Hemsby: eroding coastline leaves lifeboat unable to launch

  • Video footage taken by Chris Batten shows the cliffs crumbling

An independent lifeboat has been left unable to launch again after coastal erosion wiped away its temporary slipway.

More than two metres or six feet of coastline has been lost to the sea during high tide at Hemsby near Great Yarmouth on Friday October 13.

Hemsby Lifeboat helmsman Chris Batten told ITV News Anglia that a repaired water mains had also been damaged leaving eight homes without water.

Any call-outs to to the Hemsby lifeboat he said are now being diverted to Caister or Sea Palling.

It is believed that more than two metres of beach have been lost to the sea this weekend. Credit: Chris Batten

The crumbling coastline at Hemsby has seen the village fall victim to coastal erosion, with houses dragged back from the dangerous cliff edge over the years.

In March, homes were demolished in the area, with another dragged back as its owner desperately tried to save the property.

Around 2,000 tonnes of rock arrived in the village in March as an emergency measure to protect the dunes and more people's homes.

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