Felixstowe: Work under way to move storm-saved beach huts

Thirty of the beach huts are being moved from near the Spa Pavilion to their new homes

Work has begun to relocate 30 beach huts that had been moved to a coastal town's promenade after a storm.

Some 44 huts near the Spa Pavilion in Felixstowe, Suffolk, were lifted off the sand because of erosion in 2018.

East Suffolk Council said there was "no safe" option for them to return to their original beach location.

New homes for 14 of the huts are yet to be found after an application to move them to Manor End was turned down on Monday.

The Conservative-led district council said it had "explored all reasonable options" to retain the beach huts on the promenade, including beach platforms.

However, it said there was "no safe option for their return to the original beach location, nor their current, temporary location, which impacts on other users of the promenade".

• Future of six under-threat beach huts secured

• Beach hut owners begin legal challenge over move

• Beach huts under threat after plans turned down

Eighteen of the huts are being moved near Clifflands steps and Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club, four are going to The Dip, one to Manor End, six to Pier South and one to Pier North.

Beach huts in Felixstowe were damaged during a storm in April

New locations have been found for all but 14 of the beach huts

The council said it would be contacting the owners of the 14 remaining huts in due course to "discuss the next steps".

Ruth Dugdall, whose beach hut is one of the 14, said the move was "premature" because not all of the huts would be moved.

Francis Law, a beach hut owner who had been moved two miles up the coast to Clifflands, said those that have moved have been "left adrift" by the council.

Beach huts have been part of Felixstowe's landscape since the Victorian era

Felixstowe is believed to have been one of the first resorts in the country to have beach huts, with the traditional seaside cabins having graced the sands there since the Victorian era.

Comedian Griff Rhys Jones, who has a home in Suffolk and is president of The Victorian Society, was involved in the campaign to try to save them.