Somerset coastal road repairs delayed by lack of ships

Work to repair the coastal road in Somerset will not start until the new year

Work to protect a vital coastal road will not begin until the spring as no ships are available to deliver the necessary materials before Christmas.

Somerset West and Taunton Council started repairs to the defences at Blue Anchor in 2020.

The emergency work helped prevent a nearby pub and the B3191 from falling into the sea.

A permanent scheme to protect the road and the homes has been agreed - but construction has been delayed.

Rock armour for the project needs to be shipped from the Glensanda Quarry in western Scotland.

'Significant' holes

The existing sea defences at Blue Anchor are a mixture of angled concrete walls, constructed between the 1920s and 1980s, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The council undertook the first phase of emergency repairs after two "significant" holes in part of the wall were discovered in June 2020.

In November 2020, 1,800 tonnes of granite rock armour were delivered to Blue Anchor Bay by boat for the second phase of repairs, designed to shore up the base of the cliff to prevent further landslides.

Both stages of emergency repairs were funded by the Environment Agency to ensure Blue Anchor was protected during winter storms.

The new, more permanent scheme will see more rock armour installed along this stretch of the coastline, with mesh and turf being used to re-profile the cliffs to prevent future cracks or landslides.