Landslip halts Canford Cliffs beach huts development

There are concerns the cliff could continue to move during heavy rain

Plans to build new beach huts on part of the Dorset coast have been put on hold following a landslip.

A 10 metre wide section of cliff at Canford Cliffs Beach at Poole has slipped towards the promenade over a number of weeks.

The rebuilding of 102 huts and the construction of 89 new huts has been postponed pending monitoring of the cliff.

The work, part of a £1.79m project, had been due to start in September.

The plans to demolish and rebuild dozens of beach huts in areas including Canford Cliffs and Branksome were approved in November.

'Natural occurrence'

Borough of Poole Council engineers are due to begin three months of cliff monitoring to determine what stabilisation work is required and whether the beach huts scheme can go ahead.

Access to a block of existing huts has also been restricted and an area at the top of the cliff has been cordoned off.

There are concerns the cliff could continue to move during heavy rain.

The promenade and beach are unaffected and safe to use.

John Rampton, portfolio holder for the environment and beaches, described the landslip as an "unfortunate natural occurrence".

"We are undertaking this monitoring as a precautionary measure and the results of the surveys will help us to establish a forward plan for Canford Cliffs Beach, to ensure that we can protect this important natural area for many years to come."

Work to refurbish 12 huts and add a further 35 huts across other sites as part of the scheme is continuing.