Beach huts enter the plastic age

THEY CALLED it bathing, but we prefer swimming. While they donned substantial one-piece bathing costumes as family and friends looked the other way, we favour skimpier numbers. The Victorians would not be amused.

So it is just as well they are not around in Torbay today. The local council has become the first in the country to replace the white wooden beach huts of the sepia prints with plastic ones.

So far, 10 of 100 wooden huts on the English Riviera's six beaches have gone the way of other traditional seaside attractions like the end-of-pier show. As pizzas and chips have taken over from cockles and whelks, this easy-to-clean, easy-to-remove-during-winter hut has taken over from the traditional wooden construction.

Chris Brooks, secretary of Devon Buildings and national vice-chairman of the Victorian Society is aghast at the change. 'This is just another instance of the extent to which the character and architectural historical character is simply being thrown away and replaced by what are frankly rather tacky modern substitutes. A nice set of beach huts is something any Victorian seaside resort would have been proud of.'

But Derek Mills, leisure manager for Torbay Borough Council, which bought the new huts in an attempt to lower maintenance costs, says swimmers like the new huts. 'Every time someone hires one out we ask them what they think of it and we are getting a favourable response.'