TOWN hall bosses have been challenged to stand barefoot on Southbourne's shoreline and feel the full effects of the recent beach replenishment programme for themselves.

The replenishment scheme, which left part of Southbourne beach covered in stones, sharp flints and shells, was branded a "ghastly error" at a council scrutiny meeting.

But tourism bosses and other councillors maintain the problem has now been sorted - a claim that has amazed Paul Clarke, owner of the Bournemouth Surfing Centre at Southbourne Crossroads.

He said: "Council officers and councillors don't think there is a problem because they are so far removed from it. We are in the front line and we are the ones getting barrages of complaints from beach users.

"I challenge them to come down here with their children and stand barefoot on the shoreline for a couple of minutes. They wouldn't be able to."

After the state of the beach attracted negative publicity, the council said it would spend £160,000 rectifying the problem.

But Mr Clarke said this money had been spent merely raking over the sand. "It's the equivalent of a combover," he said. "It doesn't get rid of the underlying problem.

"Southbourne beach is naturally a shingle beach but what we have now is not smooth, rounded shingle, it is razor-sharp flints.

"The council has concentrated on the top half of the beach so people can sit down and make sandcastles but they still can't walk into the sea without potentially cutting their feet."

Southbourne Surf Lifesaving Club has also encountered problems. Chairman Bill Ezekiel said their rescue boat had twice been punctured by sharp flints and they had seen an increase in the number of people cutting their feet.

They also now require their young members to wear shoes in the water, even though it hinders their swimming ability.

"From a lifeguarding and lifesaving point of view, the hardest part of doing a rescue now is getting into the water," he said. "You can't run into the water with bare feet now, there are too many sharp stones.

"If anybody is saying there is nothing wrong with the beach, I just don't think that's accurate," he said.

"It wouldn't necessarily be that difficult to resolve. Look at what they have done to Bournemouth beach. It is gorgeous down there. Why couldn't they do that at Southbourne?"

But Mark Smith, head of tourism, said they had not received a single complaint from over three million beach users.

"We are delighted with the new bumper beach," he said. "For the few good summer days we had this year, there was twice as much space for people to enjoy.

"Additional funds found to maintain the larger first-class beach were very welcome and new equipment proved to be highly effective in the daily preparation across the resort's seven miles of beach."

He said accumulation of shingle during winter months was a natural occurrence and the beach was prepared every year ahead of peak season.

East Southbourne and Tuckton councillor Basil Ratcliffe said: "Having kept an eye on the beach since this work was carried out, I would not think that the condition is any worse that I have seen it to be in the past. For most beach users it is now not too bad at all."

And Cllr Beverley Dunlop, tourism portfolio holder, said the problems had been "grossly overstated", a sentiment shared by Cllr Phil Stanley-Watts, who said he regularly takes his family onto Southbourne beach with no problems.