St Tropez's bohemian beach bars made famous by Brigitte Bardot under threat from new law

The bohemian ambience of St Tropez’s beachside restaurants is under threat from a new law being pushed through by the French government that would banish the chic driftwood structures in favour of collapsible flat-pack outlets that can be taken down if required.

The trendy lounges on the white sand of Pampelonne, made famous by Brigitte Bardot in the 1956 film And God Created Woman, are to be scaled back in number from 27 to 23, meaning four will close completely, while the number of mattresses available to the well-heeled for lounging will be reduced by nearly half from 5,000 to 3,000. The contentious new rules, known as the Décret Plage 2006, have been in the offing for a number of years and state that the commercial area of the beach be reduced from 30 per cent to 20.

“We risk erasing a large part of the history of St Tropez,” said Josselin Chouvet, who runs Tabou, a beach bar established in the Fifties. “We are concerned not just for the tourist trade, which is going to be difficult, but also for the local people, who have always enjoyed coming here.

“These changes will dramatically affect prices.”

The government says the law is to protect the ecological qualities of Pampelonne’s natural environment. Michel Dubromel, president of France Nature Environment, said there is a need to “promote both employment, protecting of the population and a preserved environment”. When passed, restaurants will have until the end of the 2018 summer to comply.

But residents of St Tropez - as well as the “plagistes” or beachowners - are concerned the regulations will hurt the resort’s atmosphere. Each of the beach clubs has its own distinct personality and attracts its own clientele: Club 55 is for the classicists and the A-list celeb-watchers, CAP21 for the Provençal food and warm welcome, Bagatelle for the wild Champagne-spraying parties, L’Esquinade for year-round Scandinavian quirkiness, and Cabane Bambou for the tranquility and loungers.

“One of the great joys of Pampelonne is the variety,” said Eric Tognolli, editor of longstanding local magazine, Le Tropezien. “All the beaches are completely different, with their own quirks and charms.

“Saint-Tropez is unique, in France and in the world. Some things are best left alone. I’m not against change, but in this case it feels unnecessarily heavy-handed.”

The restaurants allowed to remain on the beach will have to change the nature of their construction so it can be dismantled each winter. The concern is that the shabby but charming buildings, sun-soaked in faded glamour, will be replaced by giant, temporary Ikea-style huts.

“We are losing the local, the warm welcome,” said Jean-Claude Moreu, owner of La Plage des Jumeaux, which has been in place for 30 years.

He warned that the cost of meeting the new requirements for licensees could force them out of business and allow bigger hospitality chains to establish a presence on the beach.

He said: “The problem is also the heavy cost to apply for this new plan. For the beaches who want to try and stay on Pampelonne it is also creating a difficult atmosphere as we are worried that the big hotel groups with big pockets will take over.

“St Tropez is becoming ‘luxury, luxury, luxury’ – you can see with all the ‘grandes marques’ of fashion in the village, and we are worried that is coming here to the beach as well.”