BEACH hut owners faced with controversial plans to change their contracts have hit back by forming an action group.

The Hove Beach Hut Association was “urgently” set up by Conservative councillor Robert Nemeth and more than 120 people attended its first meeting this week.

They plan to “respond robustly” to Brighton and Hove City Council’s proposals when a consultation period ends on November 19.

Under proposals announced in January, owners would have had to pay the council about £2,500 instead of the current £82 administration fee when huts are sold.

There are fears it would leave the door open for big tax rises and they would have been forced into the contract under threat of their huts being removed.

A clause in the contract gave the council power to evict owners with just one month’s notice.

While the plans were withdrawn by the council in July, councillors voted to defer them for further consideration.

Cllr Nemeth, whose Wish ward contains the highest number of beach huts in Hove, chaired this week’s meeting, which was attended by Ian Shurrock, the council’s head of sport and leisure.

Expecting a low turnout due to short notice and cold weather, organisers had put out only 20 chairs for the audience but more than 120 turned up to voice their concerns at the “lively” meeting.

Members of the audience asked what would happen if hut owners did not sign the new

contracts and whether the council would act on its threat to evict hut owners.

Cllr Nemeth said: “I was overwhelmed at the surge of support that hut owners have given to Hove Beach Hut Association.

“It was clearly right to set up such a group to fight for the rights of those with beach huts.

“The huts are the icon of Hove and their future is inextricably linked to that of the seafront as a whole.

“Putting up costs and neglecting the promenade, which appears to the administration’s position, is not a sensible way forward.”

Complaints were also made at the meeting about the state of the Hove seafront and the crime that hut owners regularly experience.

Many of the owners of the 459 beach huts in Hove previously said they had been unaware of the proposals announced in January and had only found out through coverage in The Argus.

The council has been contacted for a comment.

In July, it said the proposals had been designed to “modernise the agreement between the council and the owners and bring transfer fees in line with neighbouring authorities”.