Bournemouth beach hut tenants left devastated after council closes off seafront cabins indefinitely amid fears 100ft cliffs could collapse

Beach hut tenants in Bournemouth have been left devastated after the council closes off access to the cabins indefinitely amid fears a cliff could collapse. 

The 29 seafront cabins on Bournemouth's famous beach have been declared out of bounds due to concerns a landslip could occur on the 100ft cliff behind them.

Tenants have been allowed inside to recover some of their belongings, suggesting the wooden cabins will be out of use for some time.

Closure has arrived just in time for the summer season, when the huts would usually be in regular use. On top of the closure, rent for the cabins rose from £1,600 to £1,900 a year in April. 

The tenants are waiting to find out from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Pool (BCP) Council how long their huts will be cordoned off for and whether they will be offered alternative ones and if their rental payments will be stopped. 

Although most of the beach huts on Bournemouth beach are privately owned the plots they stand on belong to the council which charges a rent.

One tenant said: 'It's very worrying. The council isn't telling us anything at the moment.

'We don't know if and when we can use them again, whether our direct debits will be suspended or if we will be offered an alternative hut nearby.

'But the fact they gave us a three-hour window to recover our belongings means it doesn't look good and our beach huts will be out of use for some time.

'It's so annoying especially with the summer holidays looming. We pay a lot of money to have a beach hut.'

Another beach hut tenant questioned whether the amount of luxury flats being built on the cliff top could be destabilising the cliff.

He said: 'If you continuously allow enormous blocks of flats with deep foundations to be built one after another in the same area it is highly likely the terrain in the nearby area will be affected especially when it is a coastal cliff location.'

BCP Council is not able to say how long the beach huts will be cordoned off for.

Millie Earl, deputy leader and portfolio holder for connected communities, said: 'As a result of routine monitoring, we have found some movement of the cliff close to Portman Ravine, Southbourne, which will require further assessment.

'As a safety precaution, access to a small number of beach huts has been restricted. This closure will help us to maintain people's safety and enables our geotechnical engineers to inspect the area in greater detail and frequency.

'At this time, we have no reason to believe that the promenade area is at risk. We will update the public once we have completed our review.'

There are about 1,000 beach huts along the seven-mile beach in Bournemouth and Poole.

Rental fees for the average sized huts will increase to £2,200 a year by 2027 while bigger cabins will be £3,800 compared to £2,600 for 2022.