Thousands of homes will be damaged by the sea unless groyne is replaced in Poole Bay

• Watch report by ITV News Meridian's Richard Slee

Thousands of homes will be damaged by the sea unless an 80 year old groyne is replaced in Poole Bay.

That's the claim by the local council who are planning to replace the 'Long Groyne' at Hengistbury Head.

Also at risk are the iconic beach huts at Mudeford, and due to long-term erosion, land would be lost stretching from the Purbecks to the New Forest.

The existing Long Groyne was built in 1937 as a concrete structure jutting out from the cliff.

It was reinforced with rocks in the 1980s, but is now derelict and not doing the job it was designed for.

Do nothing and the experts say that nearly six thousand properties would be at risk this century with Poole Bay and Christchurch Bay merging into one.

Cllr Andy Hadley of BCP Council said: "The team has done a lot of modelling of how the sand and gravel moves around the two bays and it is a circular movement, and if we don't act, intervene, then the natural process will erode away what we know as Hengistbury Head but also some of the cliffs all along the beach from Durleston to Hurst Spit."

Recent surveys show the existing concrete structure is damaged, and the rocks protecting the groyne are not up to the job.

Matt Hosey, Head of flooding and coastal erosion at BCP council, said: "We are not getting rid of the old groyne, we are simply breaking up where there are voids, re shaping old rocks into a core, then we will build the new rock armour groyne on top of existing. 

"So we will bring in rock of about six to ten tonnes and we will armour on around about the same footprint."

In the visitors centre, and online, there are details about the public consultation  - which ends later this month.

Planning consent is likely to be a formality and work will begin next summer.