Due to sustained low beach levels, Waveney District Council will begin a short programme of replenishment works both north and south of the pier at Southwold next week.

These works will seek to improve the beaches for visitors prior to the peak holiday season by building up the levels and hopefully encouraging extra beach material to be deposited naturally.

Cllr Ken Sale, Portfolio Holder for the Environment said: “We have had problems, caused by natural conditions, which have seen the beaches lose their sand and these works will ensure that they are ready for the summer season.

“Southwold is one of our most popular and beautiful destinations and we take seriously our responsibility to maintain it to the very highest standards.”

The first work will take place next week including the removal of upper and lower groyne plant bay boards and the pushing up of beach material to above the high water mark. This second phase will continue in to the second week, with groyne board replacement taking place once completed.

When pushing up the beach, it will be necessary for safety reasons, to close one isolated ‘groyne bay’ (the area between each set of groynes) at a time, with each taking around an hour.

Cllr Sale continued: “Naturally there will be some minor inconvenience while the work is undertaken, for which we apologise. Nevertheless, it is the right thing to do at the right time and it is better to anticipate problems than merely react to them.

“The tide cycle must be right to complete this replenishment and we have agreed that action needs to be taken on the first available tides.”