NEW beach huts planned for Dovercourt seafront will “ruin” an area used for town triathlons and people taking part in watersports, it has been claimed.

Tendring Council plans to build six new beach huts with verandas on the greensward near Dovercourt boating lake.

It comes after a controversial lilac beach hut was installed on the site by the council for its beach patrol team – its previous hut had been replaced by a £94,000 facility for disabled visitors.

Resident John Serjeant, of Highfield Avenue, Dovercourt, hit out at the first hut built in May, branding it a “blot on the Dovercourt seascape” and fearing that it would set a precedent and more huts would follow.

He felt the latest huts would spoil the area and said: “I can’t say I’m surprised, but it’s still hugely disappointing.

"It will ruin the view and the ambience as well."

A Tendring Council spokeswoman said the application for six beach huts included the one already on the greensward – once built, they would be rented out and the beach patrol would move.

She said: “We’ve introduced this style of hut in Clacton with favourable comments from the public."