Storm surge victim's eviction threat removed

Bryony Nierop-Reading said she was "fighting to keep her life together" after being threatened with eviction from her caravan

A woman who lost her bungalow to the sea and faced being evicted from a temporary home on her land has been allowed to stay put for another year.

Bryony Nierop-Reading's home went over the cliff at Happisburgh in Norfolk in the 2013 winter tidal surge.

The local council said she could not live in her caravan instead, but the Planning Inspectorate ruled she can stay until other arrangements are made.

Ms Nierop-Reading, 71, said it was a "very, very fair decision".

The former teacher moved to her 1930s bungalow on Beach Road in the erosion-hit village in 2008.

In 1998, Ms Nierop-Reading's bungalow was separated from the cliff face by a garden, road and neighbours

By Easter 2013, Mother Nature had left the property just metres from a sheer drop to the beach

As the cliff-face disappeared, all her neighbours moved out two years later after accepting compensation from North Norfolk District Council.

Believing she would enjoy another 20 or so years of spectacular sea views, she declined.

But a few harsh winters, along with a clear-up of the ageing sea defences on the beach, left her home teetering on the edge within five years.

The cliff edge was carved under her house during the December 2013 tidal surge on the east coast

Following the events of the tidal surge in 2013 she moved to her caravan on her adjacent field.

However, the council issued an eviction notice saying she could not live in it long-term unless she got planning permission - which was unlikely given its proximity to the sea.

The notice was appealed and the Planning Inspectorate has now ruled the council was not wrong to issue it, but it should increase its grace period from six to 12 months to give Ms Nierop-Reading more time to make permanent living arrangements.

She now has until the end of next year to vacate.

The home dangling over the cliff was eventually demolished

She said the first option was for her daughter and son-in-law, who are tenants in her Witton Heath home three miles inland, to buy it from her, giving her money for another house in Happisburgh.

But failing that she said she had "a number of other options".

Ms Nierop-Reading said she believed common sense had prevailed, but "only because the inspectorate forced it".

"I am beginning to come to terms with it all and I can now think about the bungalow and some very happy times we had there," she said.

Judy Oliver, North Norfolk District Council's cabinet member for legal services, said: "The planning inspector dismissed the appeal on three of four grounds.

"On the fourth, the period of compliance was extended from six to 12 months. It's important to note that although the enforcement notice has been varied in this way, it has also been upheld.

"We thank the inspector for his decision."