Eastchurch cliff fall: Drone images show houses closer to edge

Drone images have shown some homes are now just a few feet from a cliff edge on Kent's Isle of Sheppey after more land collapsed.

Last year, a family lost their home at Eastchurch in a landslide.

Edd Cane, whose house is 15ft (4.5m) from the edge, said residents there felt abandoned.

He said Swale council had threatened to put a demolition order on his home and make him pay for the work. The council said it was advising residents.

Mr Cane, 66, said the home he has lived in for 15 years was once 82ft (25m) from the edge of the cliff.

But he says the recent cliff falls, which followed weeks of heavy rain, were "eating away" at his garden.

Mr Cane said: "I have already been told by the council representative that if [the cliff] gets much closer to my house they will put a demolition order on it and I will be expected to pay to have my house demolished.

"If that's not rubbing salt in the wound, I don't know what is."

Swale Borough Council and the Environment Agency had agreed on a policy of "no active intervention" on coastal defences.

Council engineers found it would cost more than £25m to protect the 124 homes and 1,000 caravans on a four-mile stretch on the north of the island.

After some residents campaigned for action to halt cliff erosion, biodegradable matting was installed in 2016 in a bid to slow down the process.

A spokeswoman for Swale Borough Council said: "We are in contact with the residents at Eastchurch cliff and have offered the affected properties housing advice.

"We will continue to work with them as the cliffs change and urge them to continue to engage with us."

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