INDEPENDENT reports released to the Daily Echo paint a more troubled story than that given by contractor ASR over the closure and damage to the Boscombe surf reef.

The contractor has claimed “all parties agree the reef is performing as designed and expected”, and said the reported damage came from boat strikes.

However, the Daily Echo has now checked through two detailed inspections that were released after Freedom of Information Act requests.

A 12-month report into the reef’s performance, written by Plymouth University expert Dr Mark Davidson and originally released to councillors last October, says the reef “does not fulfil the specifications provided by ASR ... nor provide a satisfactory surfing experience”.

And the maintenance and inspection report, carried out by a Ferndown diving company, found evidence of holes, wear damage of the seams and failed cover patches – long before the boat strike was noticed.

The £3million surf reef was shut for safety reasons in March after one the 70-metre-long top bags, numbered C4, deflated and almost completely detached itself from the reef.

ASR is still in negotiations with the council over returning to carry out remedial work to improve the wave, and also hopefully fix the damage.

The firm says, correctly, that the reef is meeting four out of the five key design criteria that it agreed with Bournemouth Council before the work.

However the reef is not meeting the other six secondary criteria. They include whether the reef is producing as many surfable days as the beach, and whether people choose to surf on the reef, rather than the beach.

Dr Davidson’s report says: “It is clear from the six-month report and the complementary views of the local surfing community that the reef currently does not fulfil the final design specifications provided by ASR, nor does the reef provide a satisfactory surfing experience for stand-up surfers.

“Although some of the detail is disputed, the major shortcomings of the reef are also acknowledged by the contractors, ASR.”

It goes on to say the main problems are: “The extreme intensity and difficulty of the breaking wave on and just after take-off, and the shorter than expected ride length.”

The report also says that it is only “quite possible” that the planned remedial works will improve the wave and is “not obvious” how the right hand wave length will reach the agreed 65 metres.

Dr Davidson’s report also throws an interesting light on the reported boat strike, and on how much pressure the structure is under from the sea. It says the height of the reef can be up to 80 centimetres higher than planned – putting it closer to the surface of the water and passing boats.

“This is primarily due to the consolidation of the sand within the geotextile bags and subsequent redistribution of sand within the bags due to wave action,” the report adds.

That seems to back up what some local surfers have been saying – that the bags on the seaward side have been pounded out of shape by the incoming tide.

ASR has also said that dives on the reef during April 2011 “found unequivocally that the damaged containers were struck by a boat and then further damaged by the propeller”.

However, the report by Commercial and Specialised Diving of Ferndown, summarising their findings from August 2010 to May 2011, presents a more detailed picture that suggests the deflated bag collapsed before the boat strike.

The disappearance of C4 was noticed in March, and the report does not mention a boat strike as a source of damage.

However it does note that: “It would appear that the seams may have failed as there are remnants of blue stitching.”

Inspections from 2010 had already found one of C4’s cover ports had become detached, and a second port was found to be missing. Both were repaired.

The report says there is evidence of propeller damage to neighbouring C5. But that was only found in April, a month after C4 was found to have collapsed.

Bag C4 has been recovered and is awaiting inspection by the council’s insurers.

In addition, the report details three holes in C7, including “two possible wear holes”, and the bag is also said to have “wear damage to the bag seam outer stitching”, although the seem “remains intact”.

Bag C6 is reported to have a moving flap of material and a hole 20cm long, while a cover patch appears to be becoming debonded. Generally, the divers found the visible lower layer of bags appeared to be in a reasonable condition but again noted two wear holes in loose material.

The report adds: “There is evidence of wear to the outer seam stitching along this field of material, however the seam remains intact.”

When asked whether it accepted sand movements in the bags could have led to splits in the bags, ASR said “absolutely not”.

A spokesman said: “A survey of Boscombe Reef conducted by ASR Limited, Bournemouth Borough Council, manufacturers of the geotextile containers used in the reef construction, and independent dive team C&S have confirmed that the reported damage to the reef was caused by boat strike and not by construction or manufacturing failure.”

The company said “only two of the 54 containers making up the structure have been compromised”, and directed us to a series of self-produced video interviews of surfers praising the reef, which it uploaded to YouTube last year.