Two beaches at Whitstable are being recommended by the Marine Conservation Society in its latest Good Beach Guide for the quality of their bathing water, along with one at Herne Bay.

One other beach at Herne Bay received a basic pass.

The MCS says that 72 beaches in the south east - 58 per cent - out of 124 tested are recommended in the guide, compared to 66 per cent last year.

Just two beaches failed the legal minimum water quality standard.

Whitstable West Beach and Tankerton Beach are the recommended ones in the town, with Herne Bay beach also recommended and Herne Bay Central gaining a basic pass.

The drop in the number of beaches in the south east recommended for excellent water quality has been blamed on several factors, including high population density, coupled with extensive new housing developments, leading to storm pollution and emergency storm overflows into rivers and the sea.

The latest bathing water tests, conducted from May to September last year, coincided with the seventh wettest British summer on record.

Thomas Bell, MCS coastal pollution officer, said: “The results reflect last summer’s heavy rain which swept waterborne pollutants like raw sewage, petro-chemicals and farm waste into rivers and the sea.

"MCS is now recommending 25 per cent fewer beaches than three years ago and we’re becoming concerned that the existing infrastructure for handling storm pollution may not be up to the job.”