A BEACH in Essex has been crowned the cleanest in the UK following a study analysing thousands of reviews.

Frinton beach has officially been named as the country's cleanest beach after Green Olive Firewood identified assessed nearly 80,000 reviews of beaches. 

The study looked at more than 50 of the UK’s biggest beaches before concluding Frinton beach had the most mentions of words associated with cleanliness.

The popular Blue Flag beach is more than a mile long with rows of colourful beach huts, dog friendly areas and a popular golf club on the coast.

It is a popular coastal destination with many reviewers on TripAdvisor calling it “the best beach in Essex”.

A total of 358 reviewers out of 530 voted the beach as excellent.

One reviewer who gave it a five-star rating said: “The beach is a beautiful sandy blue flag beach with dog-friendly areas and lots of free parking.

“We were surprised at the complete lack of any stalls for food etc on the promenade.

“There are plenty of toilets and signs showing direction and distance. The approach is steep but there are ramps and steps.”