A CHARTERED surveyor warned the council there were "major design problems" in Castlepoint car park shortly before it opened.

The expert, who has not been identified by the council, but has worked in the building industry for more than 40 years and was involved in a fatal building collapse, wrote to the council on September 18 2003.

He said he had been observing the car park over a period of months, and noticed an increase in support works there.

"In my opinion, there are major design problems stemming from the detailing of the column/beam junctions," he wrote.

He noted that beams in the car park were being propped up, cracks were appearing in the beams and the concrete was flaking, exposing reinforcement.

"The deterioration of the structure seems to be of a progressive nature," he said.

He added that he had spoken to a structural engineer about the matter, who felt on the information he was given that there was a serious problem.

"While I appreciate that your department is monitoring the temporary works and the general state of the structure and that you are fully informed by the design and construction teams of their efforts to discover and rectify the defects in this construction, I still have serious concerns that public safety may be in jeopardy," he said.

Throop and Muscliff Cllr Ron Whittaker wrote to the leader of the council, Cllr Richard Smith, on December 6 last year, quoting the letter, which was from one of his constituents.

"It does seem to me that enough 'warning shots have been fired' over the past years, pin-pointing or highlighting major defects, and I can only ask one simple question which has been put to me from the building profession," he said.

"Why did the council not seek a structural closure notice at the time that many of these matters were brought to its attention?"

The head of planning and transport, Mike Holmes, replied three days later.

He said that in June 2003, Kier told his officers the design of the car park had been reviewed, so temporary props and nets would be in place for the next few months and they would provide the council a report into the further work.

"At no time was building control advised by the owners, builders, designers or their structural engineers of any possible danger to members of the public using the car park, and as the car park was being monitored by engineers, no danger was perceived at the time," he said.

"Until Thursday December 1, my building control staff believed remedial works were progressing at no risk to members of the public and consequently any prior action to prohibit the use of the area would have been inappropriate."

Castlepoint Partnership spokesman, David Paine, said: "Castlepoint would not have opened had there been concerns over the health and safety of the use of either the car park or the shopping centre."

He added that they showed the partnership showed it was quick to act by shutting down the car park as soon as there was a suggestion of risk.

Mr Paine said the partnership was continuing to monitor for health and safety issues and would take action again if necessary, though he does not anticipate having to do so.

He said a permanent solution to fully repair the Castlepoint car park has not yet been finalised.

Robert Buller, chairman of the Strouden Area Forum, said he was concerned to hear the surveyor's predictions and called for a public inquiry into the way the car park has been handled.

"If a person has predicted a problem, and it's borne out, it worries you why the contractors, who were being paid to look at it, issued a report clearly saying different," he said.

Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood said he hoped the council would hold a full inquiry into the matter.

He said following this, he could make a judgement as to whether a public inquiry was necessary.

First published: March 30, 2006