POPPIT Sands may lose its prized Blue Flag status after findings revealed it has been badly polluted, it has been claimed.

Analysis of official Environment Agency figures by the Liberal Democrats showed that beaches were soiled 1,719 times with sewage last year.

In all, water companies polluted the finest stretches of coast in England and Wales for 15,000 hours.

And the worst case was at Poppit, with sewage discharged 79 times for a total of 1,519 hours at the north Pembrokeshire beach.

The findings were branded ‘extremely worrying’ by the international body that awards the Blue Flags and could mean the beaches are stripped of their coveted status.

In England over the past two years there have been 772,001 sewage discharges lasting for 5,751,517 hours, while in Wales there have been 203,071 lasting 1,687,475 hours.

Meanwhile, water company executives have paid themselves £51million including £30.6million in bonuses over the same period.

Johann Durand, the international blue flag director at the Foundation for Environmental Education, said: ‘The situation regarding raw sewage being dumped is extremely worrying, for the Blue Flag beaches and beyond.

“Everyone should be able to enjoy safe and healthy waters.

“The renewal of the Blue Flag award is not automatic. The timeframe to apply for the award for the 2023 season will open soon and all data from the previous season will be checked.

“If sites do not comply with the bathing water criteria, this can have an impact on the receipt of the Blue Flag.”

Lib Dem environment spokesman Tim Farron said: ‘Britain’s beaches are becoming ruined by profiteering water companies that show complete disregard for where they dump sewage.

“Whilst they rake in multi-billion pound profits we are left to swim in raw sewage - the whole thing stinks.

‘This is a scandal - Blue Flag beaches should be protected at all costs.”

The warning comes after England’s environment watchdog scaled back how it responds to reports of pollution at designated outdoor swimming spots.

In a memo circulated to staff this summer, uncovered by campaigners Greenpeace, the Environment Agency downgraded the importance of water sampling at these sites and allow water companies to assess the impact of the pollution they cause.