Police warning to 'stay away' after third major rockfall at Sidmouth beach in Devon

  • Watch advice from lifeguards on Sidmouth's East Beach


A beach in Sidmouth has suffered another rockfall two weeks after a double rockfall was caught on camera.

The latest fall happened yesterday morning (August 8) on East Beach in Devon.

Police are now warning people to stay away from East Beach, due to the unstable cliffs.

The stretch has been closed to the public for more than a decade due to the danger of rock falls.

However access to the beach is still required in case the cliff path from Salcombe cannot be used.

There are multiple signs warning people of the dangers but lifeguard Guy Russell says that people tend not to take any notice of the signs

He said: "The signs are pretty obvious, but I'm sure we've all been to places where we've seen signs and not taken much notice of them. I think people have to read the signs and look at the situation.

"I appreciate it when the cliffs aren't actually falling down, they might not realise the risk, but there is now a big heap of cliffs on the beach.

"In a way, it has done us a favour and has blocked the beach off so hopefully will put people off going, but it's very dangerous the cliffs are very unstable".

He added: "There are dangers on East Beach daily, they are a dynamic thing and they don't happen all the time. They are built integrally into our lifeguard patrol.

"The lifeguards roam every 30 minutes and that is part of their check, they check if East Beach is clear."

This rockfall is the third to happen in the past two weeks. On Monday, July 25 a section of the cliff crumbled, followed by another bigger fall just seconds later.

Anyone who finds themselves in trouble along the beach should dial 999 and ask for the coastguard.