FURIOUS councillors are demanding an inquiry into how Boscombe’s surf reef became “a £3 million flop.”

They were devastated to discover that claims there would be bigger waves and more surf days had been watered down since the idea of the reef was first put forward.

And they claim it has “made Bournemouth look stupid” and will ruin the resort’s reputation.

They told the Daily Echo councillors did not realise they were no longer hoping for waves enhanced by between two and 2.2 times when contracts were signed. They also believed the number of surf days would double or treble, which was not the case.

“How the hell can the council and the people of Bournemouth be treated like this?” said Cllr Basil Ratcliffe. “I am going to make a formal complaint to the Chief Executive – we, as a council, have been misled. This is unbelievable.”

And Cllr Ben Grower added: “The criteria were changed and it was not made absolutely clear to the council. Now an expert has admitted that surfing conditions on the reef are less consistent than they are on the beach.”

Marine expert Dr Mark Davidson from Plymouth University gave the reef a score of just four out of ten and said it falls short on a number of criteria in a report presented to councillors on Monday.

And the news has attracted adverse publicity for Bournemouth, which hoped to attract thousands more visitors to Europe’s first artificial reef.

“I think it is evident that we have a £3 million flop on our hands,” said Cllr Grower. “It will affect our reputation greatly because we did not do our homework.”

Cllr Ratcliffe added: “There has been widespread publicity about Bournemouth having a surf reef but we shouted too soon – it has made the town look stupid.”

Council figures have claimed the reef is a success because it has led to the regeneration of Boscombe seafront but Cllr Grower said: “The euphoria will soon disappear once people realise that it doesn’t work.”

Boscombe councillor Phil Stanley-Watts called for improvements to be made to the reef to ensure it works but he added: “The positive side is that investment in the surrounding area has done Boscombe a lot of good and uplifted the area.”

A spokesman for Bournemouth council said the criteria had not changed since the final design was approved in 2006.

Under its contract with ASR, Bournemouth council was to hold back £150,000 of its payment to ASR until the reef was judged to be working properly. Half of that figure would have been due now but the authority has said it won’t be paying until the reef’s problems are ironed out.