Hemsby's new RNLI lifeguard hut washed away by high tides
- Published
A lifeguard hut has been washed away by high tides two days after it was installed.
Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) said "unrepairable" damage was caused to its observation platform at Hemsby, Norfolk, on Thursday.
The independent Hemsby Inshore Rescue Service's (HIRS) lifeboat was also put out of action, just days after crew members shored up the area.
Coxswain Daniel Hurd said more needed to be done to protect the coastline.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council said it was "exploring all possibilities" for funding to help slow coastal erosion in locations such as Hemsby.
RNLI said it was a combination of high tide and strong north-easterly winds that caused the hut to topple.
It said it would arrange an alternative structure, with help from local partners, in time for their lifeguard patrols to start in July.
Meanwhile, HIRS coxswain Mr Hurd said crew members had put in "no end of hours" from 25 to 28 March to shore up the beach and to create a slipway in the cliff for access for their lifeboat.
That access had been washed away in previous storms.
Mr Hurd said Thursday's tides "ripped out the gap area once again and the RNLI lifeguard hut that was only put in place two days ago".
He said four metres (13ft) had gone from what was put in over the weekend and their lifeboat was "back off service again" until the access ramp to the beach was reinstated.
"Hemsby is disappearing and nothing is being done about it," he said.
"It's time for the government and local authorities to step up."
The borough council said the construction of a rock berm had been identified as an option that would work best in Hemsby and it had applied for planning permission.
However, it said, funding was "challenging" and it was working with government bodies, landowners and others, to "identify how the £3m to £9m required to move forward with this critical work can be found".
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