Coastal erosion: The Norfolk village making 'one last stand' to save some homes and businesses

• Watch Rob Setchell's report

People living in a village that is slowly falling into the sea are making "one last stand" to save some of the homes from eroding underneath their feet.

A new campaign group called "Save Happisburgh" wants to find a way of saving the homes and businesses in the Norfolk village that are threatened by coastal erosion.

Residents say although it's too late for some properties, they believe more can be done to save the rest of the village.

Bryony Nierop-Reading's bungalow was claimed by the tide in 2013.

She said: "It’s frightening when you look at how far out that was. "It just shows you how much land has gone. The same amount of agricultural land has gone right along the cliffs as well which as a country we can't afford to lose."

Now Bryony faces losing another home - the one further back that she moved into.

So she's getting behind one last call for help.

The new 'Save Happisburgh Campaign' held its first public meeting on Friday 7 June.

"I hope that with our meeting we are going to be a village that is saying enough is enough" Bryony said.

"This has got to stop. This is a last stand and I’m not prepared to give up."

The anguish in Happisburgh mirrors that felt further down the coast in Hemsby.

Both have long fought for sea defences. Neither have qualified for funding because of their size.

Sarah Greenwood, from the Save Happisburgh Campaign said: "If the lighthouse and the church go within my lifetime I'd be absolutely devastated.

"We can't stop the erosion but what would be nice is if we can slow it down enough so that people like Bryony aren't suddenly made homeless.

"It will all go eventually but I think we need to keep it for as long as possible."

In a statement North Norfolk District Council said: "North Norfolk District Council has for many years worked with Happisburgh in relation to the challenges coastal erosion poses for the community.

"This has and continues to include working with the existing coastal erosion risk management measures which slow erosion - and working at the forefront of wider measures which seek to help places and individuals adapt to a changing coast.

"Building on the longstanding relationship with the village alongside other north Norfolk Communities, NNDC is seeking to explore and deliver approaches to assist with managing the consequences of an eroding coast through the Coastwise project.

"This project is part of the national Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme that is seeking to develop learning to help inform national policy and approach around coastal change.

"With climate change and associated sea level rise, the coast will continue to erode and it is not feasible to prevent the coast eroding in all places; it is however possible to seek to explore and adopt approaches that can support communities through this change."

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