DAWLISH WARREN looks set for 15 new beach huts if planning permission is approved.
They will be built by Teignbridge Council by May, and the council is spending more than £20,000 on the installation.
A small strip of sand next to the seawall promenade has been identified as suitable, close to the sea and out of the Warren nature reserve's boundaries.
The purchase, required groundwork, preparation of the site and painting of the huts will cost £20,855. Ten of the huts are to be offered on a three-year lease period, while five will be offered for daily or weekly hire. The huts will be 8ft by 6ft and painted in the same pastel colours as the huts at Coryton Cove, Dawlish.
They will be constructed of wood with a tanalised finish. The Warren has had beach huts since the 1950s and, at one point, used to have around 300. The last was demolished in 2001.
Cllr Humphrey Clemens, a town and district councillor, said: 'I chaired the beach hut review a couple of years ago and the evidence we got from everyone interviewed was that they would like to see beach huts returned to the Warren.
'The nature reserve has most control over the area and we've been searching for a suitable site, which we think we've now found.
'There is a great need for these; a lot of the tourism providers would like it to be put in their adverts that beach huts are available at the Warren.
'I think it'll be a great benefit. beach huts seem to be coming back and what we've done at Coryton Cove is proving very popular. The area of land we will use does not impede on the nature reserve and seems neglected at the moment,' he said.
Once built, tourist information centres will handle the leasing of seasonal huts.