A PUBLIC meeting will take place next month over the TV competition beach huts in Dorset.

Residents opposed to the beach huts have started a petition calling for the proposal to be scrapped.

The contest, run by the producers of George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces in conjunction with Christchurch Borough Council, will see viewers submit their designs for 12 huts to be scattered along the seafront at Highcliffe.

The winners will then build the huts on land between the Cliffhanger cafe and Highcliffe Castle.

But the plans have been condemned by Highcliffe residents, with more than 650 people signing a petition against the potential development.

And a meeting has been scheduled for Friday, May 6 at 7pm at the Old School on Lymington Road, Highcliffe.

The council believes the project will be a “renaissance” for this area of seafront, which once hosted beach huts in the 1950s.

At the launch, Highcliffe ward councillor Vicki Hallam said the plans would be welcomed by residents, adding: “It is the start of something that will rejuvenate the village.”