Causeway Coast and Glens Council and National Trust remove red flag status from beaches

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council and the National Trust have removed the ‘red flag’ status from Benone Strand, Castlerock Beach, Downhill and Portstewart Strand with immediate effect.

By Una Culkin

Published 10th Jul 2023, 17:22 BST

Updated 10th Jul 2023, 18:07 BST

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In a post on social media, the Council said: “Council has received confirmation that analysis of the water samples collected by DAERA for the presence of blue green algae has established that levels are well below the World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline level.

"As a result, the decision has been made to remove the red flag status at Benone Strand, Castlerock Beach and Downhill Strand with immediate effect.”

National Trust Portstewart posted: “We’re pleased to confirm that the RLNI has today (Monday 10 July) removed the red-flag status at Portstewart Strand due to suspected blue-green algae.

"DAERA has received confirmation from AFBI that analysis of the water samples collected last week are well below the World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline level,” ended the statement.

Causeway Coast National Trust Glens Borough Council World Health Organisation Council DAERA