A CIVIC chief for tourism and leisure has attempted to provide an explanation for the decision to have no rental deckchairs or sun loungers on Bournemouth and Poole beaches this summer.

As first reported in the Daily Echo, the seafront hire furniture will remain absent this peak season.

Former BCP Council leader and Liberal Democrat councillor Vikki Slade told the Daily Echo that an officer had informed her this decision was in large part due to concerns about the items being used as weapons.

She said she quizzed officers about the subject on several occasions and learned the move would see the local authority miss out on £200,000 in income this year.

A BCP Council spokesperson provided an initial statement in response to questions by the Daily Echo earlier this week.

The spokesperson did not dismiss or challenge suggestions that fears of anti-social behaviour and violence had been a key factor in the decision that was made.

And in a further statement issued on Thursday evening, senior Conservative and BCP Council cabinet councillor Mohan Iyengar did not dispute this point.

Councillor Iyengar, portfolio holder for tourism, leisure and culture, said: “It’s true we don’t have deckchair hire available this summer. It didn’t happen last summer either with the previous council leadership. Deckchairs are a high-touch item and for Covid-19 safety we took the decision in our multi-agency planning for summer’21 to keep that stance. The plans were discussed with all councillors at the start of summer’21 in two all-member sessions and at the cross-party Overview and Scrutiny Board – and no comment or challenge was made.

“More people of course are now vaccinated in 2021 but the risk is still there. We’ve had especially large numbers of visitors this summer, and the weekends of August Bank Holiday and the Air Festival may be the highest yet. Staff have rightly been deployed in more beach cleaning, litter picking, toilet cleansing and as general help-points for people rather than in handling deckchairs. A smaller benefit has been that deckchairs not abandoned on the prom or beach in the busiest spots have helped ease congestion."

“We have seen some comments about the loss of income attributed to deckchairs," added Cllr Iyengar.

"This needs to be put into context against the fact that deckchairs have always been marginal in terms of generating a financial surplus, alongside the fact that other seafront facilities such as catering are currently trading extremely well and will more than make up for any deficit we have in not hiring out our deckchairs again this year."