More than 25 beaches in the region will be flying the Seaside Award flag today for having clean sands and water and excellent facilities.

There were seven winners in Tyne and Wear, six in Northumberland, two in Redcar and Cleveland and 11 in North Yorkshire.

Overall, three more beaches in the North-East, Amble Links, Low Newton and Warkworth in Northumberland, were allowed to fly the flag after passing EU minimum legal bathing water quality standards and demonstrating they were well managed.

They also showed that they offered ample facilities such as showers, a lifeguard, and dog ban during the seasonal months. Nationally, 375 beaches will be flying the Seaside Award flag today.

Marian Harrison, Regional Director of the independent national charity Environmental Campaigns (ENCAMS), which organises the awards and is behind the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign, said: "There will be celebrations all round the North-East today because of the hard work of Beach Managers in bringing our beaches up to scratch to scoop an Award."

But she added that there was no room for complacency.

"Our beaches may be getting better, but sadly this progress is not always happening off the beach.

"I would like to see time and money invested in making the North-East's seaside towns as clean and safe as the beaches.

"In the meantime, parents and grandparents can rest assured, that by choosing a Seaside Award winning beach, their kids are playing on one of the best beaches in the UK."

Councillor Barbara Harpham, from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, which won awards for beaches at Redcar and Saltburn, said: "We have a regular cleaning system in place, dog by-laws and dog bans on the more popular routes from May 1 to September 30, and beach lifeguards who do an excellent job making sure that the beaches stay clean and tidy."

The winning beaches in the North-East were: Northumberland: Amble Links, Bamburgh, Beadnell Bay, Low Newton, Warkworth and St Aidens at Seahouses; Redcar and Cleveland: Redcar and Saltburn; Tyne and Wear: Sandhaven at South Shields, Tynemouth at Cullercoats, Tynemouth at King Edwards Bay, Tynemouth at Longsands South, Whitburn North at Seaburn, Whitburn South at Roker and Whitley Bay South.

North Yorkshire: Cayton Bay, Filey, Robin Hood's Bay, Runswick Bay, Sandsend, Scarborough, North Bay, Scarborough, South Bay, Whitby, West Cliff.