HUNDREDS of beach-side parking spaces will remain out of action until spring 2022.

Boscombe Undercliff car park in Bournemouth was closed during the first seven months of the coronavirus pandemic due to fears over social distancing.

BCP Council was concerned about the "ability to allow pedestrians sufficient room to maintain social distancing while cars were parked along the promenade at Boscombe."

It partially reopened at the end of October last year for the more quiet winter season but remains closed now for storage of equipment.

The car park is situated between Bournemouth and Boscombe piers and is hugely popular with daytrippers.

A BCP Council spokesperson said: "A section of the Boscombe Undercliff car park has been closed off since September 2020 to allow for equipment, including tractors, vans and other pieces of kit, to be housed whilst the Environmental Innovation Hub is being built.

"This storage area at the western end of the car park will remain in place until spring 2022 when the Hub is completed."

BCP Council is creating the hub on the site of a council waste transfer station at Durley Chine, to the west of Bournemouth pier.

It has been awarded £2.4 million to set up the seafront visitor centre dedicated to reducing plastic waste along the coast.

It is being funded by a grant announced today from the government’s Coastal Communities Fund.