Considering all the muck that gets dumped in the Channel by passing ships it amazes me that the area ever got a blue flag in the past.
An area that has a port in it will never get a Blue Flag there is just too many factors against it. By the way I think that calling the water off the beaches "fairly awful, fairly lethal" is an exaggeration Paul.
Blue Flag perfection is another example of the present hysteria that everything has to be squeaky clean, we need a few bugs to build up our immunity but that is another discussion.