Farmhouse hangs over cliff edge after landslide

The property at Cliff Farm was purchased at auction for £132,000 in 2019

An 18th Century farmhouse is to be demolished after a landslide left it hanging over a cliff.

North Norfolk District Council said it became aware the property at Cliff Farm, Trimingham, was in peril on 28 March.

Its owner purchased the home at auction for £132,000 just five years ago but has since been forced to evacuate it.

Demolition works would begin "as soon as is practicably possible", a council spokesman said.

He added all parties had agreed the action was necessary after officers visited the site.

More than 1,000 homes will be lost to erosion in north Norfolk over the next 100 years, experts predict

Lib Dem councillor Harry Blathwayt said: "It is a very sad situation for everybody.

"Our coast is eroding and it will continue to, but this erosion doesn't appear to be from wave action, it is from heavy rain."

The council has used the Coastwise initiative to help homeowners and stakeholders prepare for further erosion.

Over the next 100 years, it is predicted more than 1,000 homes will be lost in north Norfolk.

The homeowner is being supported by council officials, the authority said

A project investigating the processes that cause coastal erosion and cliff collapse was launched by the University of East Anglia (UEA) last August.

It acquired "state-of-the-art" fibre optic ground-sensing equipment that would be used to detect erosion on the north Norfolk coast between Sidestrand and Trimingham.

The study aimed to map and monitor weaker areas of cliff that were more likely to fail in the future and use collected data to further understand the cause.