Cliff erosion residents refuse Hemsby evacuation offer

People living in 30 homes near to clifftop chalets in danger of collapsing into the sea have refused to go into a rescue centre.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council said there was concern about the properties to the west of The Marrams in Hemsby.

Residents were offered the option of evacuating to a rest centre until high tide passed a short while ago.

The council gave "precautionary" advice after the dunes eroded some 16ft (5m) in the past 12 to 24 hours.

Police officers and lifeboat crew visited the properties on behalf of the borough council to advise residents to move their vehicles to the Marrams car park.

It followed concern about the state of the privately-owned main road through The Marrams, which is the sole vehicular access for the seven properties at immediate risk, plus the 30 chalets immediately behind the road.

"This is a purely precautionary measure, taken in light of the risk posed through further loss of cliff material," a council spokesman said.

"Officials will continue to monitor the road and incoming tide throughout the evening," he added.

Monday evening's high tide eroded the cliffs by some half a metre alone, according to the onshore lifeboat service.

The Environment Agency declared an amber flood warning for that part of the Norfolk coast and the Met Office forecast rain and issued a yellow weather warning.

A council spokesman said officers would go ahead on Tuesday with demolishing all seven cliff-edge structures, now uninhabitable and dangerous.