Boscombe Surf Reef is “dead and buried.”

That was the claim from Bournemouth’s Cllr Ben Grower.

He made the claim amid growing unease about whether ASR will return to fix the Boscombe Surf Reef.

Bournemouth Council was due to give more information on the firm’s arrival.

But businesses and councillors are still awaiting news and some people fear the worst.

The company is supposed to return this spring, now just six weeks away, to repair and rework the £3 million reef.

One Boscombe source said: “The council were supposed to be coming back to us with news on ASR’s return by now.

“The fact they haven’t done that yet leads me to believe that the conversations with ASR are breaking down.”

Restaurant entrepreneur Mark Cribb, from Boscombe Area Regeneration Group, said: “All has gone quiet.

“I’ve been anticipating an update for the past few weeks.”

Cllr Ben Grower said: “Councillors haven’t been updated.

“To me the whole thing is dead and buried now.”

Mark Smith, director of tourism, said: “We remain in discussions with ASR regarding their plans for undertaking the required works.”

If ASR does return, it faces the prospect of legal action by three contractors for more than £60,000 in unpaid invoices.

ASR claims it only agreed to pay if certain milestones were reached – however Force Dredging, Jenkins Marine and C&S Diving all disagree.

And the firm has an outstanding County Court Judgement to Ram Plant for £7,286 dating back to 2009.

The reef has been closed since a bag deflated in 2011. It was only judged to be meeting four out of 11 performance targets before that. Cllr Chris Wakefield, Boscombe West, said: “You have got to question whether there’s any further benefit in working on it.

“The money from the insurance claim for the bag would be better used on the regeneration of Boscombe.”

Last year, the council and ASR’s pay negotiations delayed the start of the repair work until August.

The late start, combined with a spell of bad weather, meant little work was completed before work had to stop for winter.

Cllr Anne Rey said: “It’s a very worrying situation. “To me, it’s a dying facility and the fact we have had no news makes the situation even worse.

“The business down there are doing well so why waste any more time with the reef?”