Furious owners of Britain’s most expensive beach huts fear their idyllic escape will be destroyed by drunken sailors using a new floating bar and restaurant.
Hutters at Mudeford Spit in Christchurch, Dorset, say they are horrified at the prospect of a ‘rabble of partygoers’ ruining their exclusive sandbank.
They say the seaborne venue will result in anti-social behaviour, late night noise and drunken revellers falling into the sea.
And with just one toilet on board, people are also worried drunken partygoers will end up urinating over the side.
The beach huts on the sandy peninsula have a hefty price tag of up to £500,000 because of its peaceful and remote location.
Virginia Hazell-Trickett, of the Christchurch Harbour Kitchen, wants to moor up the floating restaurant and bar in the harbour just off the sandbank.
She has applied for an alcohol licence from 8am to 10.30pm for the new attraction anchored near the huts and to play music from 8am to 11pm every day.
The company originally applied for the drinks licence until 11pm but after speaking with Dorset Police has now agreed to cut it by half an hour and serve drinks only with food.
The 30ft by 30ft motorised venue will be accessed by a gangplank with handrails.
There will be a kitchen in the middle with seating and tables around the outside.
The council will decide next week whether to grant the application, but they have received nearly 40 objections, many of which are from outraged hut owners.
As well as anti-social behaviour, objectors say the venture will also encourage people to drink and cycle home as cars are banned from the sandbank.
One person who opposed the plans said: ‘I have grave concerns that the very nature of the sandbank and the reason so many people choose to have a beach hut there, is likely to be destroyed forever, if this was allowed.
‘The relative tranquility when the day trippers have gone home gives a whole new aspect to life on the coast. It is likely to be destroyed by the rabble of partygoers rushing for the experience of an evening on a floating restaurant in our midst.
‘Why music? Why alcohol? Both likely to encourage rowdiness in the exuberance of the partygoers and we all know how sound travels over the water.
‘These are unlikely to be the quiet couples wanting a new experience eating afloat in the harbour.’
Another hut owner said: ‘More people would be enticed to come to the sandbank for the bar, potentially creating more drunken and anti-social behaviour.
‘Also, the fact that it is a floating bar with a dropped gangplank in the sea is a concern for safety with potentially drunk people on board.’
Another argued: ‘Having recorded music played until 11pm at night would seem to be wholly inappropriate in this area.
‘During the summer months people sleep in their beach huts and have their windows open for ventilation at night. The noise will be a significant factor here.’
One concerned resident said: ‘Given that the land train and ferry stop in the early evening, how are customers supposed to get home at 11pm after a few drinks?
‘This would surely encourage people to cycle home in the dark or drive home in boats in the dark – and after consuming a few drinks.
‘Is there to be a water bus or will there be dozens of motor boats badgering for places to moor or tie up next to the restaurant, all revving up their engines after 11pm?’
Ms Hazell-Trickett said there will be railings all the way round the floating barge for safety and CCTV cameras will be installed.
There will also be signs telling customers to leave the premises quietly.
There are 346 beach huts at Mudeford with prices rising dramatically in the last 30 years.
The remote location makes them very desirable as an exclusive bolthole.
Cars are banned and the only way to reach it is by a 20-minute walk, a short ferry trip or a novelty land train ride.
The huts can be slept in from March to October, but have no running water or mains electricity, while toilets and washing facilities are in a communal block.