BAFFLED officials have revealed they still do not know why a popular tourist beach in Clacton is failing water quality tests.

The resort’s Groyne 41 beach has been revealed as one of just seven bathing spots across the UK that failed to meet minimum standards.

Shopkeepers say the Environment Department report is a blow for the town - but that it won’t put off tourists from taking to the Tests previously found E-coli and intestinal enterococci in the water off Groyne 41.

The pollution had been blamed on pigeon mess, but it is now thought that was only a minor source of the contamination.

Nigel Brown, Tendring Council’s communications manager, said the council is working closely with the Environment Agency and Anglian Water to locate the source of the issue around Groyne 41.

“We have nine beaches sampled in Tendring and four have come back with an excellent rating and four others with a good rating,” he said.

“It continues to be frustrating that Groyne 41 is classified as poor and we are striving to discover exactly what is causing this problem.

“A number of new measures will be undertaken in the close season in an effort to try to discover the reasons behind the poor water quality at this particular site.”

Official figures released by the Environment Department (Defra) this week revealed just seven bathing beaches across the UK failed to meet the minimum standard.

Earlier this year experts undertook a fresh investigation to discover the cause of water contamination in Clacton.

Swimmers had been warned about the dangers of bathing near the area after it repeatedly failed water quality tests.

Graham Webb, chairman of Clacton Town Partnership, said the results of the latest tests were a blow for traders in the resort.

He said: “These figures won’t do anything to help tourism or trade in Clacton.

“But people do still come here and use the beach and they don’t seem to suffer from any ill effects.”

The other six beaches that failed to make the grade were Scarborough South Bay, Instow in Ifracombe, Wildersmouth and Combe Martin in Devon, and Burnham Jetty North and Weston-super-Mare’s Uphill Slipway in Somerset.