More Dorset and Devon landslips amid further rain

Swanage landslip A number of areas in Swanage have seen land movements

Related Stories

Coastguards have been dealing with a number of landslips and mudslides in Dorset and Devon as more rain falls across the region.

In Lyme Regis, a beach chalet has been left dangling over the edge of a cliff following land movement.

Parts of the beach in Charmouth has seen cliff falls and mudslides while a section of coastal path in Portland is "particularly vulnerable".

Cliffs in Swanage are continuing to move, putting beach huts at risk.

Warning signs were put in place in the town after two landslips just over a week ago.

'Look solid'

Simon Dennis, from Portland Coastguard, said: "The current weather means water is draining from land very rapidly, causing a layer to form in cracks on cliffs.

"Large sections of our coast are now very vulnerable to movement, and even in drier weather, any sharp frost would bring expansion behind sections of cliff causing further falls.

"Areas of mudslide are prone to drying out and forming a crust. Although these may look solid, they will not support a person's weight."

Charlotte Blackman, 22, from Heanor, Derbyshire, died on 24 July after the 160ft (49m) high cliff above her collapsed on to Hive Beach near Burton Bradstock.

Five people escaped unhurt after a landslide on 8 August between Charmouth and Golden Cap.

More on This Story

Related Stories

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites

More England stories

RSS

Features & Analysis

Elsewhere on the BBC

  • Audio cassette Be kind, rewind

    The cassette is making a comeback, but can business capitalise on a trend without falling victim to a fad?

Programmes

  • A graphic of a person and the Earth respresenting the world wide webClick Watch

    David Reid visits Cern to find out more about the plans to restore the world's first web page

BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.