NEARLY all the North West's bathing waters now meet EU standards, says the Environment Agency.

For the first time 33 of the region's bathing waters passed the cleanliness test.

Those that failed were Ainsdale in Merseyside and Bardsea, Walney and Askam-in-Furness in Cumbria.

A survey of river quality also carried out recently by the Environment Agency shows those in the North West are the cleanest since the industrial revolution.