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

Beach hut tenants in Bournemouth are devastated after the council closed access to the huts indefinitely over fears a cliff could collapse.

The 29 seafront huts on Bournemouth’s famous beach have been declared off-site amid concerns a landslide could occur on the 30-metre cliff behind them.

Tenants were allowed inside to retrieve some of their belongings, suggesting the wooden huts will be out of use for some time.

The closure comes just in time for the summer season, when the cabins would normally be in use. On top of the closure, rent for the huts increased from £1,600 to £1,900 per year in April.

Tenants are awaiting word from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Pool City Council (BCP) on how long their huts will be cordoned off, whether alternative huts will be offered and whether their rental payments will be stopped.

The 29 seafront huts on Bournemouth’s famous beach have been declared off-site amid concerns a landslide could occur on the 30-metre cliff behind them

Tenants were allowed inside to retrieve some of their belongings, suggesting the wooden huts will be out of use for some time

Tenants are awaiting word from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Pool City Council (BCP) on how long their huts will be cordoned off, whether alternative huts will be offered and whether their rental payments will be stopped.

Although most beach huts on Bournemouth beach are privately owned, the plots on which they stand are owned by the council, which charges rent.

One tenant said: ‘It’s very worrying. The municipality is not telling us anything at the moment.

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

‘But the fact that they’ve given us three hours to get our stuff back means things aren’t looking good and our beach huts will be out of use for a while.

‘It’s so annoying, especially now that the summer holidays are just around the corner. We pay a lot of money to have a beach hut.’

Another beach hut tenant wondered whether the number of luxury apartments being built on the top of the cliff could destabilize the cliff.

He said: ‘If you continually allow huge blocks of flats with deep foundations to be built one after the other in the same area, there is a good chance that the land in the nearby area will be degraded, especially if it is a coastal cliff.’

The BCP council cannot say how long the beach huts will be cordoned off.

Another beach hut tenant wondered whether the number of luxury apartments being built on the top of the cliff could destabilize the cliff

Bournemouth beach during the summer. The closure comes just in time for the summer season, when the cabins would normally be in use

Millie Earl, deputy leader and portfolio holder for connected communities, said: ‘As a result of routine monitoring we have identified some movement of the cliff near Portman Ravine, Southbourne, which requires further assessment.

‘For safety reasons, access to a small number of beach huts is limited. This closure helps us keep people safe and allows our geotechnical engineers to inspect the area in more detail and more frequently.

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

There are approximately 1,000 beach huts along the seven miles of beach in Bournemouth and Poole.

Rents for average-sized cabins will rise to £2,200 per year by 2027, while larger cabins will reach £3,800, up from £2,600 in 2022.