Campaigners fighting to save Felixstowe's promenade beach huts have secured a full council debate on their future.

The prom near the Spa Pavilion theatre has seen 44 beach huts placed there for several years after beach erosion meant they couldn't stay on the beach itself.

New locations were secured for all but 14, prompting the council to say it was terminating licences as there were no other options. Campaigners have continued to battle for them to stay ahead of East Suffolk Council's March 31 deadline.

But the authority has now confirmed that the matter will go before May's full council meeting.

An online petition, started two weeks ago, was submitted to the council on March 25, and has now garnered more than 2,850 signatures.

An East Suffolk Council spokesperson said: "As the petition raised by the beach hut owners has over 1,200 signatures, it will automatically go to the next full council meeting on Wednesday, May 25."

A host of options are available to the council meeting, including upholding its current position or it could hold a referendum locally with options.

It is not yet clear if the securing of a debate in May means the deadline for this Thursday changes.

Meanwhile, a judicial review of the council's decision-making on the beach huts has also not been ruled out by campaigners.

They have suggested a series of options, such as waiting for the beach to replenish, building new platforms or setting them back from the prom in 'niches'.

But East Suffolk Council says it has "thoroughly explored all reasonable options".

Felixstowe is understood to be one of the first beaches in the country to have housed beach huts, with the popular seafront structures having arrived there in the late 19th Century.

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