Sidmouth cottage left teetering on edge of 400ft drop after cliff collapse

A house has been left teetering on the edge of a 400ft drop following a cliff fall along the Jurassic Coast.

The thatched cottage is now just 40ft away from the edge of the unstable Sidmouth cliffs in Devon.

It follows the collapse on the weekend of the 26th October of a huge portion of the cliff at Jacob’s Ladder Beach between Sidmouth and Ladram Bay.

Tonnes of debris came crashing down, prompting the local authority to close the coastal path for safety reasons.

This in turn caused a smaller rockfall directly below the thatched property, bringing it perilously close to the edge of the 400ft drop.

Images of the 185 million-year old sandstone cliffs showed the magnitude of the landslip – and the risk it poses to both homeowners and members of the public venturing onto the beach.

In a social media post, East Devon District Council warned: "Following a cliff fall at Jacob’s Ladder Beach in Sidmouth, we’d like to remind visitors to keep their distance from cliffs along the East Devon coastline.

“Cliff falls are a natural and unpredictable occurrence along the East Devon coast. This is because the rock from which the cliffs are formed is soft, and therefore prone to rock falls, and landslides, which can happen at any time.”

Following a similar collapse at the same location last year, coastal scientist Vicky Walkley had warned that cliff falls were “very difficult” to predict, and could be contributed to by both heavy rainfall and warm sunshine.

There was another cliff collapse in Sidmouth in August 2022 which came after hot weather cracked the earth.

The East Devon District Council reminded visitors to “stay well clear” of the cliffs when walking on the beach, with Coastguard advising that beach users put a distance equivalent to the heigh of the cliff between them and the cliff base.