Farmhouse teetering over cliff edge demolished

An 18th Century farmhouse left hanging over the edge of a cliff following a recent slip has been demolished.

Specialist contractors moved on to Cliff Farm at Trimingham, Norfolk earlier.

The home had been teetering over the beach for more than a month.

Trimingham, near Cromer, is on a vulnerable stretch of coastline where dozens of homes have been lost due to coastal erosion of the sandy cliffs in the past 20 years.

The farmhouse was last bought in 2019 for £132,000 and its owner left the building when it became unsafe.

Harry Blathwayt, North Norfolk District Council's portfolio holder for coast, said: "The owner of the property is obviously very upset to be losing his house. It's a difficult time for him.

"He had hopes to see out a happy retirement in a beautiful position and that's been taken away from him."

The council paid for the demolition through a fund it set up for such cases.

Rob Goodliffe, the council's coastal transition manager leading the Coastwise project, which aims to prepare communities where the coast is eroding, said as well as heavy rain over the winter, climate change was also having an impact on the rate of erosion.

"We're already working with some people, property owners in north Norfolk to try to find options and solutions for them in short term similar need to this property here.

"We've also got to look to the medium and longer term and prepare and plan in advance because if we can plan in advance hopefully we can avoid the situations and give people options so we don't end up with properties on cliff edges.

"I hope that through the work we're going to be doing with him [the Trimingham homeowner] in the coming weeks, hopefully he'll be able to walk away with options so that he can make choices and be able to safely get on with his life."

The council said "very few" other properties nearby were at risk.

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 0800 169 1830