DOZENS of concerned residents have visited an exhibition detailing the National Trust's controversial plan to roll back sea defences at Studland.

The National Trust is set to relocate the Middle Beach Cafe and the beach toilet block, and remove the sea defences protecting them.

This work is part of a policy of non-intervention the Trust is implementing for the coastal site, where, it says, the sea defences are reaching the end of their natural life.

Speaking at the Studland Village Hall exhibition on Saturday, Laurie Clark, National Trust general manager for Studland, said: "We are trying to consult with as many people as we possible can about the options on the table and what the Trust has chosen to put forward.We are determined to relocate the cafe and the toilet block to a position where they will have a longer life.

"There have been mixed messages from various people about why we have decided this, but the Trust is quite adamant it is all about rolling back with coastal change."

Middle Beach hut owner Anne Rideout, from Bournemouth, said she was very unhappy about the National Trust's decision of non-intervention.

"This hut has been in our family for more than 50 years," she said. "We feel that moving the cafe and toilets is to discourage people like us from being here. If there's no cafe and toilets, where are you going to go?

"Middle Beach is much quieter than Knoll Beach, people who want a quieter, more natural beach come here.

"If the cafe and the toilet end up in the car park up top, which is where most people think the National Trust wants them, who is going to want to go up there to come back down again? It is quite a walk.

Meanwhile, John Ridout, whose hut is one of those earmarked for relocation at Middle Beach, said: "I cannot see that moving our hut back 30ft is going to do very much if they're removing the sea defences.

"If they remove the gabions, the sea will just take over this entire section of beach."

Last week the National Trust temporarily withdrew a planning application to relocate 42 beach huts at Studland's Middle Beach.

These huts, considered to be at risk of suffering storm damage, were set to be moved back from the sea as part of a phased programme staring this autumn - a programme linked to the overall non-intervention policy affecting the cafe and toilets.

However, due to a request by Natural England regarding the ecology of the site, the planning application was temporarily withdrawn.

The National Trust says the application to relocate the huts will be resubmitted at a future date.

Meanwhile, a Swanage resident, who asked not to be named, said: "We've been coming to Middle Beach for 14 years and we've watched the erosion over the past two or three years.

"We have mixed feelings about the idea that the National Trust will just pull the plug - it feels like they are simply abandoning Middle Beach."

Earlier this year more than 1,800 people backed two petitions urging the Trust to reverse its non-intervention policy.