Poll: Beach-lovers rate UK's sands

Beach lovers will do as well in Wales and the west of England as in Spain and Greece, according to a global travellers' poll.

Rhossili Bay at Swansea in South Wales was as high as third in a list of best European beaches in a survey of worldwide tourists by TripAdvisor.

Woolacombe Beach in Devon was fifth in the European list, with Porthminster Beach at St Ives in ninth place.

Top European beach was Rabbit Beach at Lampedusa in Sicily, with Playa de las Catedrales in Rabadeo in Galicia, Spain, in second place.

Rhossili Bay, a three-mile stretch of white sand on the Gower Peninsula, was first in a list of top UK beaches, with Woolacombe second and Porthminster third.

Fourth was Longsands Beach at Tynemouth, while in fifth place was Hengistbury Head in Bournemouth.

As well as Hengistbury, Dorset had two more top 10 UK beaches - Weymouth in seventh place and Sandbanks at Poole eighth.

Top world beach was Rabbit Beach in Sicily, with Caribbean beach Grace Bay at Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos second, and Whitehaven Beach in Queensland, Australia, third.

Councillor David Phillips, leader of the City and County of Swansea said: "We are delighted, but not surprised, that Rhossili Bay has been acknowledged by TripAdvisor. We hope that many more visitors continue to enjoy its outstanding natural beauty."

TripAdvisor spokeswoman Emma Shaw said: "These awards recognise the best beaches in the UK and beyond, according to those that really matter - travellers that have visited these beaches and given them the highest levels of praise. Huge congratulations to Swansea's Rhossili Bay for beating many of the most exotic beaches across the globe."