ONE of Swindon's favourite playgrounds has become the first British winner of an international Blue Flag award for inland beaches.

Keynes Country Park, which is in the heart of the Cotswold Water Park, has picked up the award for its clean and safe children's beach.

Every year thousands of families including many from Swindon flock to the beach during sunny weather spells.

Roger Brown, chief executive of the Cotswold Water Park Society, said receiving the award was a great achievement for the park.

He said: "It is a credit to all the dedication and hard work of the ranger team who maintain Keynes Park.

"And it reflects our aim to make Keynes Country Park a beacon park by becoming the best in the country.

"During the course of a year we spend in the region of £100,000 to maintain the park and to achieve this award shows that all our hard work and dedication has been recognised."

Mr Brown said that the reputation of Keynes Park as a top inland play spot was growing.

"Within the past 12 months we have been contacted by international park managers from Europe and the Philippines asking for our advice on how to manage similar attractions," he said.

The Blue Flag scheme is managed by ENCAMS (Environmental Campaigns) on behalf of FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education) and is the best recognised beach award in Europe.

Its object is to set an international benchmark for all beaches to work towards with agreed EC bathing water standards.

The quality of the water and state of the beaches are checked regularly to make sure they provide a safe and healthy environment for families to visit, together with a range of exceptional amenities including clean toilets, clean eating facilities and lifeguards. The provision of lifesaving equipment is also crucial.

Amanda Booth, regional director of ENCAMS, said: "The Blue Flag award is excellent news for the South West's tourism industry."

Keynes Park has recently been a hot spot with the number of visitors soaring into their thousands daily.

Awards are nothing new to the Society, which manages the Cotswold Water Park. For three consecutive years it has been awarded the Green Flag for sustainable park management, and in 2001 it was also given the Queen's Award for Sustainable Development for the Keynes Park visitor centre and its biodiversity action plan.

As well as the beach, Keynes Park has much to offer including boat and bike hire, BBQ and picnic sites, adventure playgrounds, lakeside walks, nature reserves, its Millennium visitor centre complete with Jurassic fossil exhibition and Watersports at Waterland. Educational visits are also lead by the rangers, as are voluntary ranger workshops.

The children's activity programme, The Adventure Zone, is also run from Keynes and an extensive range of guided walks held throughout the Cotswold Water Park are also organised from there.

Despite the growing costs of managing Keynes Park the car park charges have again been pegged with car park fees remaining at £3.00 during the week and £6.00 at weekends. Season Tickets are also available for just £30.00.

Full details on (01285) 861459.