Let's be honest, when we imagine our dream beach getaway, it's usually a few thousand miles away from Britain. But this might be a good year to stick to home turf, as new research shows the water at a large proportion of Britain’s beaches is the cleanest on record.

The annual survey carried out by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) by testing water samples for pollution revealed that almost three quarters (73 per cent) of the 734 British beaches examined had water which is of "excellent" quality to bathe in. That's 135 more approved locations than the previous year.

To celebrate this, and the predicted heat wave, we've rounded up the 10 best beaches in the UK that have been given The Marine Conservation Society's seal of approval for clean bathing water come rain or shine.

The cleanest beaches in Britain