Businessman Chris West knew the Club Med hotel redevelopment meant this season was likely to be the last for his St. George's beach hut enterprise.

However, he was unprepared for the bombshell dropped on him by Government a week ago — a letter giving him just one month's notice to shut down Beach It at Fort St. Catherine.

Having already hired three full time staff and spent money preparing for the tourist season, Mr. West said of the news: "Where does it leave me? Somewhere between the toilet and the cesspit."

Mr. West, from St. George's, has run the concession for the past eight seasons, offering food and drink plus the opportunity to hire water sports equipment.

He's now pressing for answers from Premier and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown.

"The reason, they say, is they're demolishing the hotel. I've been off the Island and just got back today and I'm trying to meet with the Premier tomorrow," he explained last night.

He claimed that when he asked Dr. Brown at a tourism trade show a few months ago what he should do in respect of the Club Med plans: "He said 'don't re-do all the bathrooms,' but there was no indication it was going to close in June. So I didn't do that but there was money spent on getting it up to scratch for this season. We opened May 1 and I can't recoup what I paid."

With staff numbers reaching six with part-timers at the height of the season, Mr. West expressed concern that they will be out of a job too.

Opposition Leader and Shadow Minister of Tourism Kim Swan criticised the short notice given by the Department of Works and Engineering, Mr. West's landlord.

"There needs to be some forward planning. How can you get buy-in when you're dropping bombshells on people's lives?" he asked.

A Government spokeswoman declined a request for comment.