THOUGHTS of swimming in the Solent and English Channel may be far from your mind right now, but the good news is that Hampshire's beaches have come out tops in annual water quality tests.

This year the south can celebrate its best bathing water quality results in tests carried out by the Environment Agency over the summer.

In the southern region 99 per cent of bathing waters complied with the European Commission's criteria, compared with a national compliance rate of 98 per cent.

All the beaches in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight passed the statutory tests for signs of contamination from sewage and other sources, while most met tighter guideline standards to gain coveted Blue Flags.

Calshot, Lepe and Milford on Sea were among those which won Blue Flags, as well as Stokes Bay, Lee-on-the-Solent and Hillhead.

All 13 of the Isle of Wight's beaches passed, although Gurnard and Bembridge did not pick up Blue Flags.

Tourism officer for New Forest District Council, Tony Climpson, said: "This is great news for the New Forest because there's a hell of a lot more to the New Forest than just trees and ponies. We have 43 miles of wonderful coastline and three beaches with the Blue Flag, which means our millions of holidaymakers can enjoy a high-quality sea experience."

Isle of Wight tourism spokeswoman Alix McKee said: "We are over the moon about these results, which are the best on record.

"The £200m Seaclean Wight scheme - which focused around the new state-of-the-art waste water treatment works at Sandown - has delivered cleaner bathing waters, bringing considerable benefits to the Island's residents and its critical tourist industry."