Beachgoers flee for lives as cliff collapses inches from where they’re standing

11 August 2023 , 10:01

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Beachgoers flee for lives as cliff collapses inches from where they’re standing

Beachgoers were left running for their lives after a cliff collapsed just inches from where they were standing.

At a popular UK beach in the southwest, the holidaymakers made a lucky escape, and chilling footage captures several people fleeing as debris lands all around them. The shocking incident unfolded on Tuesday evening at West Bay in Dorset.

Everyone at the beach is thought to have been unharmed, DevonLive reported, but the video has been used by Dorset Council to warn the public of the dangers of rockfalls and landslides. As a result of Tuesday's incident, West Bay has been closed to the public until it is made safe again.

The video shows dust tumbling from the cliffside before a huge chunk of rock slides off, falling down. Three people stood nearby turn and flee as the rock crashes into the sea and a cloud of dust is thrown into the air.

Dramatic footage captured the moment part of the cliff collapsed

Sharing the video on Twitter, a spokesperson for Dorset Council said: "Rockfalls and landslips can happen at anytime. These people had a lucky escape. The South West Coast Path above the cliff at West Bay is currently closed."

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In May, a similar sight was seen when part of Sidmouth's crumbling cliffs came cashing down. The cliffs at Sidmouth are notorious for crumbling with cliff falls also taking place at both East Beach and Jacobs Ladder. Photos showed huge clouds of red dust along the bottom of the cliffs just moments after the rock fell.

Three people had to run from the debris

It took place in West Bay, near Bridport in Dorset

The town's East Beach cliff is gradually falling away into the sea, taking the gardens of the homes on Cliff Road with it. Residents of Cliff Road are losing chunks of their gardens to the elements. Paul Griew lost an entire summerhouse back in 2017 and it was caught on video tumbling into the sea.

Speaking to DevonLive, he said: "My gardener used to have his bonfire there and he had one there half an hour before [the summerhouse] went. The first thing I did was go and make sure his car had gone and he hadn't actually been standing there.

"When I bought the house, I looked at records of rate of erosion and it appeared that there was between 300 and 1,000 years before it reached the house so it seemed perfectly acceptable. It's increased ten times so possibly 30 years left rather than 300."

Elliot Ball