Devon beach rock fall: 'Thousands of tonnes' of rubble falls yards from tourists
Thousands of tonnes of rock came crashing down onto Sidmouth Beach in Devon - just yards from shocked holidaymakers.
The large section of cliff broke off at around 5pm last Wednesday, and the moment was caught on camera by Tony Lane, from the New Forest in Hampshire.
According to the Daily Mail, Mr Lane said: "I sensed something was about to happen and just started to snap away.
"Then there was a loud rumbling and a huge section of the cliff just gave way and went crashing to the beach.
"A great cloud of dust rose up - people were just standing there watching in shock. I'd say the nearest person could only have been 100 yards away."
He added: "If anyone had been nearer it there would have been no chance - they wouldn't have escaped - there must have been thousands of tonnes of rock."
The area on the Devon coast is prone to landslides, and PC Jim Tyrrell, beat manager for Sidmouth town warned tourists and locals to be careful.
Speaking to the Mirror, he said: "It would be a timely reminder to the general public not to go on the beach at the eastern end of Sidmouth towards Salcombe Regis.
"We do not want a repeat incident of what happened at Burton Bradstock in 2012 when a holidaymaker was killed as a result of a cliff fall."
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