Three beaches in Waveney have been ranked amongst the best in the country as the winners of this year's Keep Britain Tidy Blue Flag and Seaside Awards were announced.

Waveney District Council Leader Colin Law stated that the beach in Lowestoft 'is unbeatable' and you would have 'to travel to the south of Spain and places like Malaga' to find similar golden sands.

In the East of England alone, 26 beaches will be flying flags including Lowestoft's South Beach and the beach at Southwold Pier- which retained the Blue Flag status.

Kessingland claimed a Seaside Award for its stretch of beach.

The Blue Flag Award is the international standard for beach quality and is only awarded to coastal destinations with the highest standards of water, facilities, safety, environmental education and management.

The Seaside Award recognises and rewards beaches in England that achieve the highest standards of beach management and, in the case of bathing beaches, meet the required mandatory standards for water quality.

Council members were joined by representatives or the RNLI Lifeguards, Sentinel Leisure Trust, and local guest house owners to celebrate the award on Lowestoft's South Beach.

Cllr Law added: 'The award for Lowestoft's South Beach is particularly pleasing as it underlines how, despite the coastal protection work taking place in this area, there are huge areas of fantastic, clean and safe beaches available for everyone to enjoy.

'It brings an awful lot of prestige to the area and makes the offer so much better for families, who in actual fact, look for blue flag beaches.

'It is a tremendous achievement I would like to thank Waveney Norse, Anglian Water and Sentinel Leisure Trust for their hard work in maintaining our beaches to such an exceptional standard.'

A total of 60 beaches across the UK were given the Blue Flag Award, and a further 111 have Seaside Awards and 31 beaches have been bestowed with both titles.

Liam Fayle-Parr, the RNLI Lifeguard supervisor for Waveney said: 'On Saturday we go live and we have lifeguards in Lowestoft and Southwold up until the September, 6.

'We would really urge people to come down, swim between the flags and take notice of the beach safety signs.

'We are really happy to have the blue flag award and we consider it to be one of the best beaches on the coast.'

Keep Britain Tidy's Coastal Awards manager Paul Todd added: 'The public can be sure, if they visit a Blue Flag or Seaside Award winning beach, that they are visiting one of the best beaches in the world.'

A full list of Blue Flag and Seaside Award beaches can be found at: www.keepbritaintidy.org/blueflagseasideawards2015/2160

What do you think of the beaches in our area? Email: joe.randlesome@archant.co.uk