BEACH hut owners fear they could be about to lose their precious sea views AGAIN after plans were announced for more overnight beach lodges in Bournemouth.

The installation of 15 lodges between Boscombe and Southbourne last year left many staring at the back of other huts which had been dumped in front of them for months.

Now they fear the same could happen again after discovering there are proposals for a further nine overnight lodges to be installed in the autumn.

And they have claimed Bournemouth council ignores residents in favour of visitors to the town.

Gillian Vincent, 80, has owned a hut at Manor Steps for more than 50 years and was furious to receive a letter from the council warning of more lodges to come.

She told the Daily Echo: “In September 2016 the council put other beach huts in front of ours to install the lodges. They were there for about six months and we had to fight to get them taken away.

“I am worried the same is going to happen again and that they will stay in front of us this time - there’s nowhere else for them to go.

“What’s the point of having a beach hut if you can’t see the sea? I had might as well stay at home and sit behind the garden shed.

“I pay £91 per month to rent the plot my hut sits on and they didn’t even offer a refund or any compensation last time - it’s totally unfair.”

Mrs Vincent said and her family treasure their time at the beach but added: “The council is more interested in tourists than the people who live here and pay their council tax.”

She is among many hut owners who have received a letter from Andrew Brown, operations manager in tourism services.

Jenny Cuddy told the Echo: “We fully expect that the council will carry out what they intend to do. It is a shame that the loyal council tax payers of Bournemouth who have paid for many years large sums of money, are not being valued at the expense of holiday makers. Whilst we realise that tourism is very important to the local economy, we also feel that this will be a continuing battle between the council and the loyal beach hut owners.”

The letter to hut owners says: “Dear Beach Hut Tenant, Since the successful launch of the Bournemouth Beach Lodges in April 2017, they have been extremely popular and due to high demand the council has decided to invest in an additional nine lodges, and make further improvements throughout the site.

“The planning application is due to be submitted in April and if granted, work will commence Autumn 2018. Due to the displacement of other beach huts on the site, a row of beach huts will be installed in front of your current site. We do recognise that this may impact on your hut and are in the process of working on plans to raise the current terrace your hut is located on.”

The letter says access to huts maybe “interrupted” during works.

It goes on to say: “We fully appreciate the changes that you have already experienced during the initial development but we remain committed to making this as easy for tenants as possible.”