Bournemouth East Cliff remains closed after landslip

  • Published
Media caption,

Drone footage captures a huge landslip at East Cliff in Bournemouth

A section of cliff in Bournemouth remains closed after a landslip damaged a cliff railway lift and crushed a toilet block.

A stretch of the 100ft (30m)-high cliff in East Cliff, close to the memorial for Red Arrows pilot Jon Egging, fell away on Sunday morning, taking fencing and benches with it.

No-one was injured but the area has been cordoned off by the council amid concerns of further movement.

The seafront promenade remains open.

Image source, Tracey Jones
Image caption,

A stretch of the 100ft (30m)-high cliff fell away at on Sunday morning

The East Cliff Lift, an Edwardian funicular railway built in 1908 and operated by Bournemouth Borough Council, was partially submerged by debris, while a public toilet block at the foot of the cliffs was destroyed.

Cracks started appearing on the promenade on Saturday, leading the council to close off the areas at the top and bottom of the cliff.

Image caption,

The Edwardian funicular railway at East Cliff was damaged during the slip

Image caption,

The memorial to Red Arrows pilot Jon Egging (on the left) is now dangerously close to the cliff edge

Councillor Lawrence Williams said barriers were expected to be in place "for the foreseeable future".

"Although this is a significant landslip, it is only one spot along Bournemouth's seven miles of beaches and we do not have any concerns about other areas," he added.

Chris Saunders, head of operations at the council, said: "If there is more rainfall over the next couple of the days then there is likely to be more movement although we expect it to be minor."

He said the council was waiting for experts to visit the site and assess the damage.

Image caption,

A toilet block was demolished by the landslip

Image caption,

Fencing and benches disappeared over the side of the cliff

A sculpture at the top of the cliff - a memorial to Flt Lt Jon Egging who died when his Hawk T1 aircraft crashed at the 2011 Bournemouth Air Festival - has not been damaged, a spokeswoman for the Jon Egging Trust said.

East Overcliff Drive at the top of the cliff remains open, as does the Bournemouth Carlton hotel.

The hotel has not yet responded to a BBC request for comment.

Image caption,

The landslip happened close to the Jon Egging Memorial

Related internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.