IT was standing room only at a packed public meeting of disgruntled beach hut owners in Bournemouth.

More than 200 people turned up to the meeting at the Grange Hotel in Southbourne and others had to be turned away because of lack of room.

The meeting was called to discuss the setting up of a beach hut owners’ association following an outcry over the huge increase in the beach hut charges.

Fees rose by around £10 this year to £840 but owners were also hit with a bombshell that they would have to pay new valuation fees, which were originally cited as up to £500.

It is now thought the valuation fees will be between £200 and £300, of which half can be claimed back by hut owners. But this will still take the cost of a beach hut to around £1,000.

At the meeting, Paul Holmes was named chairman, with Ann Gerrard vice-chairman. Around 40 people signed up to join the association on the spot and plans to petition Bournemouth council and the Valuation Office Agency.

Ann said: “It was a very productive meeting. The bombshell about the extra charges really helped to rally people into doing something. It tipped the balance.

“We handed out complaint forms to people who didn’t get the chance to have their say and it was obvious that people have a range of grievances about the state of the seafront. There were an awful lot of complaints about the toilets.”

They are now looking for people to act as liaison officers for different stretches of the seafront. Anyone interested in this or joining the association can contact Ann on 07939 266529.