Deckchairs give way to continental comforts

Traditional seaside beach seats fall out of favour as coastal resorts react to changing holiday habits

THEY have long been an integral element of a British seaside holiday – giving beachgoers a chance to recline, unwind and enjoy the summer sun, or drizzle.

But now the serried ranks of deckchairs which once lined the country’s beaches are being folded away by councils, in an attempt to make coastal resorts appear more “continental”.

Thousands of deckchairs have either been sold-off or mothballed because they are considered old-fashioned.

According to the Marine Conservation Society, seaside councils regard deckchairs as being out of step with the stylish coffee shops, shops and restaurants that have sprung up along seaside promenades in recent years.

Blackpool council recently got rid of 6,000 chairs once dotted along the Pleasure Beach, while Bognor beach and Sidmouth have temporarily suspended their deckchair service after existing vendors folded in the face of waning popularity.

Others, such as Margate beach, in Kent, are now run by private operators, who said that many visitors were snubbing traditional deckchairs in favour of “continental sun loungers”. And in Weymouth, council leaders were last week branded “penny pinchers” after they announced plans to charge pensioners £2 a day for the use of deckchairs which span the promenade – despite them being free to the public for more than 30 years.

The shift follows a recent survey of 2,000 British families, which found that less than a third used deckchairs on their last holiday – a 50 per cent fall since the Eighties.

The report, published by Beach Retreats, a holiday letting agent, noted that other seaside pastimes, including Punch and Judy shows and donkey rides, had also suffered.

Richard Harrington, Conservation Society, of the Marine said: “I think deckchairs tend to be viewed as what you might call an old-fashioned seaside approach. Lots of these seaside areas that are trying to regenerate the traditional resorts don’t necessarily want to be part of that.”

But Stephen Davies, Britain’s last remaining deckchair manufacturer, said: “It’s a shame, it really comes down to the death of the traditional British holiday. But are they unfashionable? I don’t think so.

“We sell an awful lot of our products abroad, particularly in Scandinavia, Los Angeles and New York.”