Beach hut owners in Boscombe are complaining about the current state of the beach.

“It looks like a building site”, says one Bournemouth resident referring to the build up of sand and stones.

This extra beach material, dredged from the Isle of Wight, lies between the Honeycombe Chine development and Manor Steps. It will be used to fill the 55 “geotextile bags” that make up the surf reef.

Bournemouth Tourism have informed beach hut owners that the material will soon be cleared, however it has not stopped many from expressing their concerns.

The beach isn’t safe with all this construction material around. Progress has been slow and we still don’t know when the reef will be completed.

Delays to the surf reef project meant that some of the 15,000 cubic metres of beach material was lost over the winter months. It has been topped up with new material, delivered overnight to avoid disruption to beach users.

It is hoped the project will be completed by the end of October, depending on the weather, but the council’s contract says the reef must be completed by 31 December 2008 “at the latest”.