Visitors worry resort will vanish without defences

Residents and visitors to a seaside resort say they worry the entire village could be lost if sea defences are not built.

Strong winds and high tides have stripped more sand from Hemsby beach near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on Wednesday.

A sheer drop in the sand ramp to the independent lifeboat station has rendered the lifesaving volunteers "off service" for sea rescues.

Amanda Loades, who used to live in Hemsby, said: "It's devastating. I remember my dad walking up the beach to get ice creams and now there's no beach to walk up."

On Thursday, many people taking pictures of the latest damage spoke of their memories of the homes lost to coastal erosion over their lifetimes of holidaying in Hemsby.

Mrs Loades, 62, who now lives in Gorleston, says she remembers the rows of wooden cottages that have since been lost to the sea.

"We moved from Birmingham when I was about 12 and it was so different," she said.

"There were five or six rows of bungalows and the bungalow we lived in on Fakes Road is next in line to the sea.

"We used to walk along the road, and now you can't. I used to play there, pick blackberries with my nan and now you can't. That's all happened in the last 40 years.

"The people who live where we lived must be worried sick. What are they going to do if they can't live there any more?"

Vanessa Peckham, 69, and her husband John, 66, lived in Hemsby for about 10 years before returning to Eastbourne.

They regularly return for holidays.

"It's a shame," she said. "More should be done to have stopped it from getting this far."

The couple were not confident that defences would be built in the short term and they feared much more land would be lost.

Mr Peckham said the coastline "definitely needs more reinforcing and concrete".

"I know it's not pretty, but if it's saving the dunes it's got to be a good thing," he said.

"Probably next year it won't be much different from this, but in 10 years' time I can see it [the shoreline] another 50 metres up."

Diana Holmes, 73, from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was taking pictures on her mobile phone for her artist daughter to paint.

"My daughter likes the choppy white waves, so that's what I do," she said.

"But we've noticed how different it is since we came a couple of months ago, and the coastline has pulled down again here.

"When you see how much it's eroded now, in six months' time with the winter coming, how much of their back gardens and how many more of those houses will be gone?"

Her husband Malcolm, 74, added: "This time next year those houses up there will be gone.

"You can see where they [properties] came down onto the beach originally; now it's gone.

"I've been coming here since I was a kid. Great Yarmouth, Cromer, all the east coast, and everywhere you go - same story."

The coxswain of Hemsby Lifeboat, Daniel Hurd, has called on the government to fund defences, following a pledge made by the now Environment Secretary Steve Reed, who visited the beach in January, before the general election.

Great Yarmouth's Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe said he "would "camp outside the office" of the water and flooding minister, saying he had a call with her a month ago but was still awaiting a reply.

"Politicians," he said. "It's common that they promise things before an election and fail to deliver them after an election when they've been elected.

"When parliament returns next week, it might be that I have to camp outside Emma Hardy's office to get some kind of answer from her."

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has been approached for comment.

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