PEOPLE who rent beach huts say they are being 'ripped off' by Weymouth and Port-land Borough Council.

Tenants of chalets on the town's Esplanade met with councillors and officers from the council to register their anger over the possibility of a 15 per cent hike in charges next year.

A questionnaire sent out by the council asked taxpayers to choose how to plug an £850,000 gap in funding and one option was to increase chalet charges.

Sue Bray, a childminder from Radipole who rents a chalet at Sluice Gardens, opposite the Sea Life Park, organised the meeting which was attended by more than half of the 107 chalet tenants.

She said: "It was a very interesting meeting, a lot came out of it. The main feelings were anger and hurt of how we are being treated by the council.

"It's sad, all the tenants who were at the meeting feel really ripped off.

"It came up at the meeting that most of the questionnaires that had come back so far had voted for a rise in chalet charges, but it was a very loaded questionnaire. If you don't have a chalet, and there are only 107 of them, then you are going to vote for something that hits them. Similarly if you don't use the swimming pool, you vote for an increase in swimming charges.

"Lots of the people who rent chalets are either elderly people or young families. They don't go on holiday abroad, instead they use our beach, our shops and our restaurants."

Two people from the meeting will now represent the chalet tenants at three council meetings in November and December to put across their views.

Sue added: "You've got to do something otherwise you would just look at your bill next April and find it's got another £100 on it."

Chalet tenants have seen an increase of 16 per cent in charges in the last three years. The 15 per cent hike this year would raise an extra £9,000 for the council.

Coun Kay Wilcox, spokesman for budget, finance and resources, attended the meeting. She said: "A lot of things came out of the meeting but the main reason for them being there was that they didn't want to pay the 15 per cent increase that might be imposed.

"There's a long way to go and we've encouraged the chalet tenants to make their representations at council meetings.