Part of historic golf course falls into the sea

Sections of the course have recently fallen on to Alnmouth beach

Members of a golf club say they are "very concerned" after coastal erosion caused sections of turf to fall into the sea.

Alnmouth Village Golf Club is the oldest nine hole links golf course in England and its low lying location next to the coast means it has often been flooded.

But this most recent impact of the North Sea has seen damage to a part of the course which has not been affected before.

Club secretary Ian Simpson said: "We will eventually lose the golf course if nothing is done."

"We are very concerned and need to look at new ways of dealing with it," he added.

"Perhaps we can use boulders to prevent further erosion."

Alnmouth Village Golf Course has had many problems with flooding and coastal erosion

Treasurer John Graham, who has been a member of the club for 65 years, said: "We had a big problem in the early 1960s near the boathouse. The sea got in and it destroyed about 15 yards.

"There was more trouble in the 1990s, but we had some pipes buried and we had marram grass planted and that stabilised that area.

"But where the problem is now - what we call link end - we've never had an issue there before.".

Ian Simpson and John Graham are looking at ways of protecting the course

Councillor Gordon Castle said the situation is "very concerning."

"I've contacted the cabinet member for the environment at Northumberland County Council to see if it is possible that money allocated for coastal erosion could be used to protect this spot," he said.

"It is worth noting that there has been many changes to the coast over the years, and not all of it can be prevented."

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