A vital report on the potential sell-off of thousands of beach huts by BCP Council is yet to materialise - even though the meeting is less than a week away.

Despite repeated requests to BCP Council asking when the report for the special meeting of the corporate and community overview scrutiny meeting on Wednesday will be published, no exact time has been given.

Now some are calling for the meeting to be postponed, including Liberal Democrat Vikki Slade.

The meeting next week has been set-up to discuss this sole issue.

Usually, council reports and agendas are published a week in advance, giving at least five clear working days.

Read more: Government 'alert' to BCP Council beach hut plan, says MP

Both the agenda and the report should be published together, best practice dictates.

The Daily Echo has been told the council is "just waiting for the current report to be finalised and circulated ahead of next week's Overview & Scrutiny meeting."

We have asked over the past 24 hours when this will be published and received no definite answer.

We have also asked for a statement on the reasons why it is delayed. 

No response has been forthcoming.

Read more: Beach hut plan key to BCP Council's budget proposal

BCP Council want to set up a company to buy the local authority’s beach huts stock, as part of a “non-traditional approach” included in the local authority’s budget proposals.

A report on the 2022/23 budget plan set out the creation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which would be wholly or majority owned by the council.

The SPV would purchase the assets, namely the thousands of beach huts along Poole and Christchurch bays, at market value using mostly third-party debt and an additional shareholder loan from the council.

The transaction – in the region of £54million – is expected to help to plug a financial gap in the council’s transformation programme.

BCP Council wants to use the money from the special purchase vehicle plan under the Government’s flexible use of capital receipts, which would allow the money to be spent on projects as long as they generate ongoing savings or transform services that would make savings once complete.

It's come under fire from residents and opposition councillors keen to see the full workings and report ahead of a final decision, which was scheduled for full council in September.