BEACH hut owners are pleading with council bosses to take urgent action following another seafront blaze.

Walton’s Beach Hut Owners’ Association has urged Tendring Council to install security devices to prevent arson attacks.

It said motion-activated lighting and high-pitched alarms would deter anti-social behaviour and prevent people breaking into unoccupied beach huts.

The group’s call for action comes after the the inside of a beach hut on East Terrace was destroyed by fire on Monday night.

Firefighters managed to extinguish the fire within half an hour and an investigation was unable to determine the cause of the blaze.

Melanie Whitehead, chairman of The Beach Hut Owners’ Association, said: “We are obviously saddened that another beach hut has been damaged in this way.

“Beach huts aren’t just special places for their owners, but they have also been an important part of family beach holidays in Walton for more than 100 years.

“They are an attractive feature of the seafront and I do not understand why anyone would want to destroy them.

“We are now arranging to meet with Tendring Council officers on site to discuss security measures.”

The latest fire comes just over a week after 12 beach huts along the Frinton seafront were completely destroyed after a gas cannister burst into flames.

Tendring Council vowed to work with local beach hut associations two years ago to explore ways to combat beach hut fires following a spate of arson attacks in Walton.

A spokesman for Tendring Council, which has yet to received a report from the fire brigade, said: “If this was an arson attack then this is something we deplore, and would urge anyone with information about this crime to contact the police.

“We have arranged to meet the beach hut association to discuss this matter further and work with them to increase security measures.”