- Ladrum Bay beach in Devon closed after building collapse on Sunday morning
A beach in Devon had to be closed over the bank holiday after a huge rock fell and holiday park bosses admitted they were lucky no one was hurt.
Ladrum Bay beach near Sidmouth, Devon, was closed following the incident on Sunday morning – just hours after it was packed with people visiting the beach in brilliant sunshine on Saturday.
Fortunately the private beach, which is used by residents of Ladrum Bay Holiday Park, was empty at the time of the collapse at 7.15am.
A rock fall on Ladrum Bay beach near Sidmouth, Devon saw rocks and debris fall from the cliff onto the beach below as a piece of rock was carried away
A large area of rocks collapsed, falling onto boats and paddle boards parked on the beach below and causing damage.
Barriers have since been erected blocking all access routes to the beach to prevent anyone from visiting it.
Assistant general manager Will Tottle said: ‘We feel fortunate that it happened at the time that it did. It was a shock, the car alarm went off and the ground literally shook.
‘The day before when we had a beautiful spring day, the beach would have been busy and we would have encountered a very different story.’
He said people may have been killed or seriously injured because ‘this is a significant amount of rock’ that washed up on the beach in the bay on the Jurassic Coast.
Falling rocks fell on paddleboards and buoys that were tied down. luckily no one was injured
‘We’re very fortunate, we’re trying not to think about it and focus on getting the beach back to its original condition,’ he said.
Geologists will examine the rocks tomorrow to find out what happened and whether the beach is safe and is expected to reopen within a week.