BEACH hut owners say they've been left unable to access their cabins without a ladder after the council refused to replenish a shingle bank washed away by high tides.

There is now an almost vertical drop of up to 12ft directly outside the timber huts at Milford-on-Sea.

As a result, it is impossible to get into huts without the help of a ladder, owners say. Even then, there's nowhere to sit outside.

Some of the huts are so precariously perched above the drop they are at risk of tumbling forwards.

The owners of the £20,000 huts pay hundreds of pounds every year in ground rent to the local authority, and are calling for the beach to be topped up with stones and pebbles.

But officials at New Forest District Council say the loss of the shingle bank is a natural occurrence and will recover over time.

Tracey Mead has owned her 11ft by 9ft blue cabin with her father, Graham Watling, since 2010.

Mrs Mead, 54, said: "The huts are on a shingle bank and where the tides have been very high they have taken the bank away outside a number of huts.

"The huts are now teetering on the edge of a mini cliff face. You literally cannot get into your hut unless you have a ladder.

"The drop outside my hut is between 8ft to 10ft and is very steep incline and every time you try and take a step you just drag more shingle down, making the problem worse.

"It is impossible to sit outside. There are about 20 huts affected.

"We have asked the council to help by replenishing the bank and building a new sea wall but they have refused as it is too costly."

Mrs Mea d, a teaching assistant at a local primary school, said they had paid a specialist to lift her hut back a few feet and anchor it down.

She sad: "We were concerned about the hut tumbling forwards and hitting somebody.

"While the council are refusing to do anything to the beach, they made it clear that if anything like that happened it would be our responsibility."

Sue Wearne, 54, has had her hut since last year. She said: "We pay £460 a year to the council in ground rent, all we are asking for is there to be a bit of ground to sit on."

A spokesman for New Forest District Council said that if the huts were unsafe to members of the public they would close off that part of the beach.

He said: "The beach has eroded following wave conditions during mid-April. The profile is natural in appearance.

"Further erosion is possible at any time, which could further undermine the huts causing a safety issue. If this did arise the council would intervene by closing any unsafe areas. It would then be the hut owners' responsibility for the timber buildings.

"The council does not undertake coastal protection works to protect beach huts. The council is not considering any works at this site. "