Cllr Brian Larcombe, chairman of the Town Management and Highways Committee, said: “The council is aware of some reaction on social media concerning our removal of a gazebo in Langmoor Gardens.
“This is a council decision, which has been debated and voted on twice. To clarify, the gazebo was constructed during the phase II coastal protection works during the mid-2000s and is not a heritage asset.
“The following will hopefully give background to the circumstances that some may not fully appreciate but have necessitated its removal.
“There has been reference to homelessness on social media.
“The council naturally recognises the need to help homelessness, and while Lyme doesn't have the cases many other larger places in the UK have, and while each are individual, they do need support to address the circumstances which sometimes require specialist agency experience and resources.
“Lyme Regis Town Council, like other small towns of parish status, don't have the means or necessary experience to resolve homelessness, other than directing anyone needing social support to Dorset Council as the principal authority who have the resources and a statutory responsibility for it.
“The gazebo in Langmoor Gardens is not a temporary or permanent solution to any homelessness case and the circumstances that can surround the support needed.
“The council is aware of the disgusting state the gazebo suffers with drunkenness and signs of drug taking, and the urinating and defecation in public, at times during the day, when our public toilets are open. It is completely unacceptable and inexcusable. The police have been unable to deal with this over the last few years.
“We are therefore simply removing the structure but leaving the benches it contains in position, so the seating remains, along with the other 200 benches we have in the gardens and along the seafront and in other places around the town for public recreation and benefit.”