Two reckless tourists ignore warnings and pose for selfies dangerously close to the edge of crumbling 150ft Broadchurch Cliffs – despite huge rockfall a fortnight ago
- Photographer urges council to close East Beach to prevent loss of life
This is the alarming moment two young tourists ignored warning signs to take selfies at the crumbling ‘Broadchurch cliffs’ – only a fortnight after a huge rockfall.
The pair walked past danger signs to pose on a ledge where the 150ft sandstone cliff at West Bay in Dorset has started to slip.
Drone photographs show where a section of the clifftop has slumped by about 4ft, amid fears it crumble away into a rockfall at any moment.
The images were captured last night at West Bay, the real-life setting for the ITV crime drama Broadchurch, where the cliffs attract thousands of tourists.
It comes after hundreds of tonnes of rock suddenly fell onto the beach during the latest rockfall there on May 21.
The moment when youths were pictured on the unstable Broadchuch Cliffs where there was a rockfall just a fortnight ago
The images were captured last night at West Bay, the real-life setting for the ITV crime drama Broadchurch, where the cliffs attract thousands of tourists
The images were captured on Sunday evening
The incident prompted a huge emergency response amid unfounded fears that members of the public might have been caught underneath the rockfall.
Dozens of beachgoers had been under the cliffs not long before the tonnes of rubble came down. It was put down to heavy rainfall a few days before.
Drone photographer Daryl Gill, who took the pictures, is calling for East Beach to be closed to the public to prevent loss of life due to the deadly nature of the 185 million-year-old Jurassic Coast cliffs.
He said: ‘I just don’t think people understand that it could drop at any moment.
‘I don’t know if more signs could go up past the coast path – but if it was up to me the beach would be closed.
‘I don’t know how you stop people – they just seem to do what they want to do.’
The coast path was not affected by the latest rockfall but the beach was inaccessible and closure signs were put up.
Holidaymakers were warned to use common sense and caution.
The cliffs are known for their fragility, with numerous incidents being reported over the last few years of rockfalls.
In November 2021, a large section of the 120ft cliff at East Beach in West Bay, Dorset, fell.
The previous year also saw an incident where 600 tons of rock and boulders fall from the cliffs with no warning.
Falling debris left a woman in hospital in May 2021 after she was hit by it while walking along the beach.
Richard Edmonds, a freelance geologist from Lyme Regis, said: ‘It just goes to show landfalls are entirely unpredictable.
‘We’ve seen them after periods of heavy rain and after bouts of sunshine. It’s been two weeks since we had heavy rain and it has gone now.
‘This shows there’s a good reason to stay away from the cliffs.’
Gavin Ball, who walked in front of the cliffs moments before they collapsed a fortnight ago, said: ‘It was really scary considering were had just walked along that part of the beach.
‘We were on West Cliff watching the sunset when there was this sound and the cliffs came thundering down.
‘They gave away so quickly and you would not have been able to run out of the way.
‘You would have had no chance. It was horrendous.’
