Hoteliers and traders in Boscombe, buoyed up by the prospect of Europe’s first artificial surf reef on their doorstep, could be forced out of business by the time the £2.68 million project is completed.

That’s the warning from Steve Kent, chairman of Boscombe Traders’ Association, after the council announced that work on the scheme has been halted until April and will not be finished until next September.

Mr Kent said: “Everyone believed the council when they said the reef would be completed by this autumn. They spent thousands of pounds on leaflets and PR spin saying it would be finished by October. Then we were told it wouldn’t happen until the New Year.

“Now the date has been put back until next autumn. For the third successive year the seafront will look like a building site and businesses counting on the reef have been left high and dry.

“Hoteliers banking on extra customers also feel let down because those people will now go elsewhere for their summer holidays.

“A surfing competition has been arranged for later this month but there won’t be any reef so hopefully we will have enough wind to enable it to be staged.”

He added: “This latest delay could be the death knell for some businesses. It’s very bad news for Boscombe, just as work is about to start on the ice rink in Boscombe precinct.”

Yesterday the Daily Echo revealed how the council had confirmed that work on the reef had been stopped “as the shorter days and winter weather do not permit long enough working sessions for safe and effective construction on this major underwater project.”

The council’s service director for leisure Roger Brown said there had not been “any specific marketing campaigns to encourage surfing breaks to Bournemouth from October 2008”.

He stressed that the entire regeneration scheme, including the reef, was not being funded by local taxpayers but by “capital receipts related to the site”.

Mr Brown added: “Local companies are among those who have submitted tenders to invest heavily in the new leisure facilities.

“A greatly enhanced Boscombe seafront will be open for business next summer. The surfing competition, always intended to take place at Boscombe Pier, is going ahead as planned.”

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