COUNCIL bosses have pledged to crackdown on yobs after spate of attacks on beach huts in Dovercourt.

Hut owners have been left concerned after several beach huts were damaged in Cliff Park, including hut 14 which had its door smashed in.

Nearby resident Marie Phillips discovered the vandalism on Tuesday morning.

She said: “I noticed the door had been kicked in while on a walk with my dog so I reported it hoping the owner would see it and make sure nothing was stolen.

“I don’t own a beach hut but I think it was caused by youngsters who have nothing better to do as there are not a lot of young people in the area.”

Alex Porter, Tendring councillor responsible for leisure and tourism, said such vandalism is mindless.

Mr Porter said: “Criminal damage is just that, criminal, and not only has an impact on the hut owners directly, but also the wider community who see the aftermath

“In addition, several of the huts affected are owned by us, many with long-term licences; so the cost of repairs ultimately falls to the tax payer.

"Our engineering team made our huts secure as soon as were made aware.

“We know we have strong, resilient communities who will not accept the actions of the small-minded minority, and I am sure anyone with information will report this to the police.

“We are looking at what we can do to stop this occurring again, such as deploying our mobile CCTV cameras to hotspot areas.”

During the same period last year 26 acts of vandalism were reported to the Harwich and Dovercourt Beach Hut Association.

This resulted in the deployment of mobile CCTV cameras which were purchased for more than £6,500 in 2021.

Beach hut owners are encouraged to report incidents directly to Essex Police so that cases are logged and dealt with accordingly.

However, if vandalism is spotted by a resident who doesn’t own a hut, it can be reported through Tendring Council’s online form.

For more information on beach huts and how to report an incident visit bit.ly/3uLLKQJ.