A HAMPSHIRE beach hut was left leaning at a crazy angle after coastal erosion caused it to topple over.

A man was inside the hut at Milford on Sea when the recent loss of shingle took its toll, causing the wooden structure to tumble forwards.

He managed to scramble out safely as his cabin nose-dived towards the sea.

A witness is reported to have said: “He was lucky he had the front doors open, otherwise the extra weight might have caused the hut to roll.”

It comes a month after families warned about the danger resulting from shingle being washed away by high tides.

As reported in the Daily Echo, beach hut users were left high and dry after New Forest District Council refused to replenish the shingle, saying it would happen naturally.

Families said a steep drop of up to 12ft outside their huts meant they were accessible only by stepladder.

Tracey Meade, 54, said: “The huts are teetering on the edge of a mini cliff face. You literally cannot get into your hut unless you have a ladder.

“The drop outside my hut is between 8ft and 10ft and very steep.”

The Hordle Cliff incident occurred on Wednesday.

Colin Read, the council’s executive head of operations, said, “Whilst it is unfortunate this has happened, New Forest District Council are not the owners of the huts, nor do we have any role in the upkeep of these private facilities.

“However, we are the landowners.

“As such, we will continue to work with the beach hut owners to help them to fulfil their responsibilities to ensure their hut is safe.

“With regards to the incident on Wednesday our coastal team responded as soon as this was reported to us by cordoning off the area.

“Our coastal team will continue to monitor the beach and building control will be assessing the situation as we would with any structure which has been reported as unstable.”