Beach huts plan 'will save Bude Sea Pool'

Cornwall Council said it would be withdrawing funding from the Sea Pool next year

Campaigners fighting to save a historic open-air pool in north Cornwall have revealed plans to build beach huts to help raise funds.

Cornwall Council has said it will be withdrawing funding from the Sea Pool, at Summerleaze Beach, Bude, next year.

Its supporters said they hoped rents from the huts could be used to help pay the maintenance for the pool, which has been in the town since the 1930s.

Access to the pool, which was formed partly naturally, is free of charge.

The campaign group will have to apply for planning permission to build the huts.

Martyn Holehouse, from the Friends of Bude Sea Pool group, said there were originally huts at the pool when it first opened.

'£1,000 a year'

He said: "The beach huts would go on the plateaus that are around the pool. There is only room for about 10 huts."

He added: "The idea is that we will build permanent structures that we will be leasing out at a rent of about a £1,000 a year."

Mr Holehouse added that renting out the huts would guarantee the long-term future of the pool.

The 100m sea pool is used by local residents and holidaymakers for swimming, kayakers and surfers.

It is topped up twice a day at high tide - one of very few tidal pools remaining in the UK.

Last month a Cornish brewery said it was launching a new ale, called SOS, to raise funds for the sea pool.