During the summer bathing season, which runs from May to the end of September, Environment Agency officers take between 15 and 20 samples at each of England’s 451 designated bathing waters.

As part of the programme, testing took place in Sheringham on Thursday.

The tests look for two key types of bacteria: E. coli and intestinal enterococci, which are indicators of pollution from animal waste or human sewage.

The samples are sent off to a laboratory in Exeter where they are left to develop in a petri dish for a few days before being analysed.

Area environment manager, Andrew Raine, in Sheringham (Image: Amy Mackrill/ Newsquest) Andrew Raine, the area environment manager for the Environment Agency, said: “In Britain, 92pc of our bathing waters meet or exceed the........

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