Hemsby coastline campaigner asks 'Where is Brandon Lewis?'

A house is perching close to the edge of the cliff in Hemsby, where several houses were lost in August

Campaigners fighting for sea defences have called out their MP, demanding "Where are you Brandon Lewis?" after a high tide battered their coastline.

Some 6ft (1.8m) of sandy cliff was lost at Hemsby in Norfolk during the latest erosion at the weekend.

Save Hemsby Coastline claim they have not heard from Great Yarmouth MP Mr Lewis, despite repeated calls for his help to secure a concrete defence.

Mr Lewis said the weekend's tide was "extremely concerning".

Lorna Bevan said she had tried without success to get meaningful support from Brandon Lewis

A 0.8 mile (1.3km) concrete berm has been granted planning permission - known as being "shovel ready" - but needs £15m in order to be put in place to try to protect the cliff.

"He [Mr Lewis] promised 'get shovel-ready Lorna' and we're behind you; I will be there to help to raise the funds," said Lorna Bevan from Save Hemsby Coastline.

"We have got everything in place that he asked of us and I've seen neither hide nor hair of him."

'Cruel situation'

A house is dangerously close to the cliff edge since the weekend tide, when the independent lifeboat station's sand slipway was washed away.

It left the lifeboat temporarily unable to launch, and residents closest to the sea lost their water supply for hours after tides battered the mains.

Several clifftop homes have already been lost to the sea this year.

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"Our magnificent beach is being shown no respect from the government," added Ms Bevan.

"It's a cruel situation that could be avoided if there was a political will to fight for this area.

"It's an awful sight - you can see the row of houses that will be next in line; they must be quaking in their sleep."

She added the village desperately needed someone with the "political will" to save Hemsby, which she believed was heading for a "saga of sadness" this winter.

"Come here, put your voices to us, back our campaign, help us to get our money... do it, and before its too late," she said.

Granite blocks added to the beach in March as a stop-gap

She and group member Ian Brennan pointed out that £25m had been recently granted to Cromer and Mundesley, by Norfolk County Council.

"It's makes me feel frustrated; when is it going to be our turn, when is Hemsby going to get what it deserves?" said Mr Brennan.

"We know what we need, we know exactly what it would look like, all we need is somebody high up to say, 'here is some money, let's get this done'."

Simon Measure, who lives on The Marrams - the stretch of houses closest to the sea - described the stress of being at the tide's mercy.

"If we hear a particularly loud wave crash, we're awake, we cannot get back to sleep," he said.

"We're just worrying about someone knocking on the door and saying to us, 'you've got to go'.

About 2,000 tonnes of granite was placed along a 262ft (80m) section of cliff at the end of March in an emergency bid to protect the area, at a cost of £735,000 .

Mr Lewis, who has been MP for the Great Yarmouth constituency since winning it from Labour in 2010, said: "I have made contact with the council to receive an update on what steps are being taken to ensure that residents stay safe, by themselves and the owners of the beach."

Great Yarmouth Borough Council is the funding body for the concrete berm and has been approached for comment.