SUNSEEKERS hoping for sea views at Felixstowe promenade were left disappointed yesterday after giant piles of sands totally blocked the landscape.

SUNSEEKERS hoping for sea views at Felixstowe promenade were left disappointed yesterday after giant piles of sands totally blocked the landscape.

A stretch of beach to the south of the pier was closed as 200,000 cubic metres of sand and shingle was delivered yesterday in a bid to protect against beach erosion.

The work, which is a joint venture between Suffolk Coastal and the Environment Agency, has caused minor inconvenience for a number of people that work on the beach selling ice creams and other refreshments.

Stanley Harris, of the Boating lake kiosk, said: “At the moment I can't even see the water, if there is a big pile of sand in the way it does make it harder for people to get to us.

“I understand it has to be done that but it's just been done at the wrong time of the year.

“It's just a shame that it is the first week of the school holidays and the weather has been so good recently, it's very disappointing for us.

“Generally people are feeling sorry for us as they realise it is a silly time to do it. Our regular customers are still making the trip to this side of the pier. We just want to let people know that this side of the beach will be re-opening soon.”

As well as topping up the sand on the beach, 21 rock groynes are being installed to replace the older more fragile ones.

Andrew Rouse, project manger from the Environment Agency, highlighted that weather conditions forced the work to be done during the summer.

“If we carried the work out later in the year then it is likely that it would have taken us a lot longer,” he said.

The much needed flood defence works are being carried out to raise beach levels in order to protect the seawall and promenade, improve the standard of flood protection, reduce the risk of loss of life and to protect properties and existing infrastructure.