BEACH hut prices on Mudeford Sandbank are tumbling like sandcastles washed by the tide, it's been claimed.

Tim Baber, editor of Mudeford Sandbank News keeps an eagle-eye on prices and says one hut on the market earlier in the year for £120,000 eventually changed hands for £75,000.

"Out of that price, long-time hut owners would have had to pay the transfer fee to the council of approximately £21,000," he said.

"This means the vendors only secured £54,000 for their hut, a price drop inside a year of nearly half its realisation."

Gone are the days when beach huts at Mudeford regularly sold for £100,000 or more without being advertised.

Mr Baber said there are currently more than two dozen beach huts for sale there, including four full-sized sleeping huts belonging to Christchurch Borough Council.

"The council have missed the market themselves," he said.

Jim Atkins, chairman of Mudeford Sandbank Beach Hut Association, said: "From the point of view that we believe that the character of the beach was changing because beach huts were becoming unaffordable for families, we welcome the reduction," said Mr Atkins.

"But if you are trying to sell it's unfortunate."

"Two or three years ago if someone put their hut up for sale there would be a queue of people outside with a cheque book waiting to pay anything you asked. Now it's a buyer's market."

Christchurch council recreational services manager Alan Ottaway said: "There is some anecdotal evidence suggesting that the values at the moment are not going up and suspicions they are falling slightly."

The council owns four huts and will market two this year and two in 2005/6 so as not to flood the market.

"That marketing programme has not been implemented yet. We've been trying to establish a fair market rate to sell them at."

That has proved difficult, he said, because few are advertised with estate agents.

"We'll sell them for what the market will bear. We've resisted the idea of an auction. At the moment we're talking about a sealed bid process and, as likely as not, we'll have to consider if the offer will be acceptable."