Feeding seagulls could damage Blackpool's coastal waters

Instead they will look to science to resolve remaining issues with contaminated water - although they stress the sea is 'the cleanest it has ever been'.

Blackpool lost its prestigious Blue Flag status last year, but all its bathing waters passed the Bathing Water Standards in 2019 with Bispham achieving an 'excellent' classification.

Sources of contamination include sea birds, animal waste from further inland and sewage leaks.

Messages urging visitors and residents to do their bit by not dropping litter or flushing pollutants down the toilet, also need to be reinforced, a meeting of the council's tourism, economy and communities scrutiny committee was told.

According to the Bathing Water Management Annual Report the main sources of pollution are:-

Outfall sewers - although United Utilities has built longer pipes at Harrowside and Anchorsholme to take any sewage further out to sea.

Animals - waste particularly from areas of salt marsh grazing on the river

Ribble are regularly reported.

Birds - Research has ruled out starlings, but found gulls are a source of pollution.

Clare Nolan- Barnes, head of coastal and environmental partnership investments at the council, told the meeting culling gulls would not be considered, but the council would investigate other options.

These included a device trialed in Torquay which displaced birds, collaberating with a university to carry out research and warning people not to feed seagulls in order to reduce excrement.

Coun Fred Jackson, cabinet member for the environment, said Blackpool's bathing waters "were the cleanest they had ever been" but the resort could not rest on its laurels.

He told the meeting: "I think there was a feeling when we got the Blue Flag, that we had done it and our sea was clean enough.

"But we need to keep getting the message out there that everyone needs to keep doing their bit."

Coun David Owen said: "How does leaving the EU affect us in regard to improving the bathing waters bearing in mind the big push to improve quality came from the EU?"

A few years ago the council was faced with the possibility of putting signs up warning people not to go into the sea if the quality of the water did not reach stricter European standards.

The committee agreed to press the government for more funding for bathing water management through the town's MPs.