Hove beach huts vandalised and owners call for CCTV cameras

Beach hut owners were disgusted and shocked when they turned up in the morning to discover several huts had been damaged.

One lady was "heartbroken" as she was on holiday when her hut was broken in to - her friend went to check on the hut to make sure nothing had been stolen.

The huts were introduced in the 1930's and now there are now hundreds across hove seafront.

Cathy Biggs, chairwoman of the beach hut owners' association, does not think she will make any money on her hut when she sells it due to the maintenance and insurance costs she has had to pay.

She said: "The maintenance is about £400, £500, plus the insurance."

"So if you add up, I've been spending all that money on top of what I bought it for, so when I sell it, I won't make any money."

Cathy has called for improved security measures following the vandalism, including additional seafront CCTV coverage.

The beach huts were targeted across several nights and no one has been caught.

Cathy Biggs and a vandalised beach hut (Image: NQ staff)

She said: "It doesn't look like anything's been stolen."

"Things have been pulled about a bit."

"There were cans of beer and wine and they were still there, " she added.

Cathy believes that the crimes are a results of "mindless vandalism" rather than targeted thefts as very little has been taken from the huts.

She claims that the current CCTV faces towards the road rather than the huts, which is why it is so hard to catch the culprits.

She said: "It is merely for traffic.

"With all this mindless vandalism, attacks on women and stuff, it might be good to get more CCTV," she added

Cathy has put in a request to have a look at the current cameras that are available.

She said: "Some people are saying that there's quite a few youths going into the Co-op, stealing the alcohol, drinking, and causing trouble down some of the streets."

Cathy has thought about taking security matters into her own hands.

She thinks that a "wildlife camera" inside the hut might help.

Two vandalised beach huts along the sea front (Image: NQ staff)

Councillor David McGregor, Cabinet Member for Economy, Culture, Heritage and Tourism at Brighton and Hove City Council, said: “We were very disappointed to hear a number of beach huts on Hove seafront were broken into and vandalised

“Our beach huts are an important and much-loved feature of the seafront and we understand the distress and inconvenience this will cause owners.

“Our seafront team does patrol this area and when we discover damage, we contact the owners immediately and take steps to secure the damaged huts and safeguard any belongings.

“We had an urgent call with the head of the Beach Hut Association earlier this week to discuss the damage and will continue to work with our beach hut community to identify ways we can support them and prevent this type of incident occurring again.

“We are also working with Sussex Police to try and identify those responsible.”