Owner of Hemsby home teetering on clifftop races to drag it inland before it falls into sea

  • Watch a full report from Hemsby from ITV News Anglia's Rob Setchell.

A man whose house is teetering on the edge of Norfolk's crumbling coast says he faces a race against the tides to drag the property inland before it falls into the sea.

In a matter of weeks, Lance Martin has lost several metres of his garden in Hemsby as the seaside town was battered by high tides and gale force winds.

Lance Martin's living room now looks into the sea Credit: ITV Anglia

Three homes have already been demolished, two others are at risk and six more have been evacuated due to damage to water and electricity supplies.

Mr Martin, a former Grenadier Guard who has lived in The Marrams since 2017, has already paid for his home to be dragged back once - and he is determined to do it again.

"I've got the biggest infinity pool in Norfolk and I won't give it up easily," he said.

Lance has lost most of his garden to the sea Credit: ITV Anglia

"In 2018, after the 'Beast from the East' we managed to drag this back ten-and-a-half metres. That left me ten-and-a-half metres of garden at the back.

"On Friday, the council came around and measured the garden and we only had five metres left and by Saturday morning that had dropped to a metre."Thankfully, Great Yarmouth Borough Council have been brilliant all through this and they've given me a week to ten days to get my house moved from where it's situated to the plot just across the road there."

Lance Martin said the house he bought in 2017 is his dream home Credit: ITV Anglia

Mr Martin says he may be able to move the house using shipping airbags that are usually used to launch boats.

They will be placed underneath the house and inflated, raising the house ready for it to be dragged further inland. He credits the army for his unflagging optimism.

Lance Martin Credit: ITV Anglia

He said: "I just keep going because of the positive mental attitude the army gave me. 22 years with the finest regiment has given me that resilience. "And yes, I do feel anxious, I do feel stressed - you wouldn't be human if you didn't in this situation - but I also know there's people out there willing to help and they are doing and that's fantastic."

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