COUPLES CAMP OUT OVERNIGHT FOR MUDEFORD BEACH HUTS (From Bournemouth Echo)

COUPLES CAMP OUT OVERNIGHT FOR MUDEFORD BEACH HUTS

4:23pm Monday 5th January 2009 in

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SUMMER seems like a dream when the bitter winter weather bites but maybe not for fans of Mudeford.

But 50 or so couples were prepared to camp out overnight in some of the coldest conditions of the season so far to guarantee a slice of the sun and a chance of a tan at a beach hut at Mudeford.

A proportion of the huts owned by the Avon Beach Company are re-let every year and Monday (Jan 5) was the first day they came up for grabs this year, on a first come, first served basis.

At the height of the queue in the morning there were 50 very chilly people stamping their feet, blowing on their hands and waiting patiently to put pen to paper.

“The queue was all the way to the café. They all had their sleeping bags and tents out. The husbands stayed overnight and the wives took over in the day,” said a company spokesman.

“They’ve been there since Thursday.”

A total of 80 of the wooden beach huts are rented out annually. Weekly lets are between £79 and £95; long lets are between £400 and £492 and season-long lets from April to September are from £590 to £775.

Getting your hands on a season-long lease means that you do not have to queue to renew the next year.

In 2006 Alan and Valerie Day from Highcliffe camped out at Mudeford for four days in a successful bid to get a long let hut.

They had been holidaying at Mudeford for 30 years or more and knew the wait would be worthwhile.