All of Cornwall’s beaches have made the grade against tough bathing water quality standards, according to figures published by the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs.

Of the 142 designated bathing waters assessed in Devon and Cornwall just three in Devon have been rated as ‘poor’ under new standards introduced in 2015, which are twice as tough as in previous years.

In Falmouth, Gyllyngvase and Swanpool were rated excellent with Maenporth coming in as good while Church Cove, Coverack, Kennack Sands, Poldhu, Polurrian Cove, Porthleven and Praa Sands were also all rated as excellent.

Malcolm Bell, chairman of the BeachWise forum for the South West and chief executive of Visit Cornwall, said: “It’s fantastic to see all Cornwall’s beaches pass these tougher tests with flying colours for the second consecutive year, despite the wetter weather this summer, with Devon not far behind.

“Bathing waters are much cleaner and have continually improved since 1990 when just 27 per cent met European water quality standards. This is thanks to massive efforts by Defra, the Environment Agency, water companies, councils, local communities, farmers and environmental organisations.

“This year is only the third time that the results have been reported against the new standards, and the second consecutive year that 100 per cent of Cornwall’s beaches have made the grade.”

The new regulations classify bathing waters as excellent, good, sufficient or poor, based on the level of bacteria in the water as monitored by the Environment Agency between May and September. Up to four years of results from 2014 to 2017 are combined to indicate water cleanliness.

To view the full list of bathing water ratings, go to gov.uk/government/statistics/bathing-water-quality-statistic.