Remaining Felixstowe beach huts by Spa Pavilion are set to be moved into storage on January 17

There are plans to move the remaining beach huts that are being relocated from the area of Felixstowe Spa Pavilion into storage at a car park next week.

Owners of these 14 beach huts that currently have no new site have been contacted by East Suffolk Council (ESC) over next steps, which includes a proposal to move the huts into storage on land at a Felixstowe car park on January 17.

Some of the hut owners have contacted ESC over why the huts cannot remain in situ until the outcome of a live planning application to resite them at Manor End, plus there are other applications at the pre-planning stage.

But a spokesperson for ESC said they felt it was prudent to continue to move the huts into storage while there was no certainty over a future site.

Last year, ESC terminated the site licences for the 44 huts at the historic seaside location by the Spa and a campaign was launched to try and save them. While new sites were secured for 30 of the huts, 14 were left with nowhere to go.

The reason the huts needed to move from their temporary position on the prom – where they normally reside in the winter – was because they impacted on other prom users and there was no safe option to return them to their original beach location, ESC has said.

Retired nurse Sue Durrell, 62, from Felixstowe, is among those of the 14 beach hut owners who contacted ESC to question why the huts could not currently remain where they are.

"So why not leave them on the prom a bit longer? They have already been there for some time and are not doing any harm and are not being used because of the weather this time of year. So why not wait until the results of the planning applications?" she said.

She said it would be an unnecessary expense to move the huts twice, some of the huts are fragile due to their age and also raised concerns over how secure the huts would be at the car park site.

In the letter to beach hut owners about next steps, ESC said the storage area would be surrounded with 2.4m-high fencing and would have an access point secured with a coded padlock.

ESC is covering the cost of moving the huts into storage at the car park.

The letter also says hut owners had the option of making their own arrangements for their hut to be removed before January 15.

Mrs Durrell said she and husband John bought their hut 'on an impulse' about eight or nine years ago, with them funding it using a loan.

She said in her very stressful job, and also with the demands of looking after relatives, at the time the hut became complete escapism and a refuge.

"In the hut, nothing else mattered. Everything else seemed small compared to being there and listening to the sea," said Mrs Durrell, who added it had hugely helped her mental health.

The couple moved to Felixstowe to be near their beach hut, named Y-Knot. "We love our beach hut, we really do," added Mrs Durrell.

An ESC spokesperson said: “As landowner, East Suffolk Council supports the planning application submitted by the Felixstowe Beach Hut and Chalet Association for Manor End.

"However, without certainty of a decision date, or of the decision being successful, it was felt prudent to continue to move the huts to storage.

“As discussed with the association before the Christmas period, offering a compound area until the end of September would allow this application to go through the planning process.

“Should the application be successful, any subsequent planning conditions and preparations required for Manor End may prevent the huts being moved for a number of months. Matching the timescales for the general move of huts in the spring would therefore be difficult to achieve.”

The Felixstowe Beach Hut and Chalet Association was approached for comment.