Overview
- Thousands of tonnes of mud and rock slumped onto Charmouth beach after a major cliff fall and mudflow at Stonebarrow.
- A roughly 30ft-wide section of the 450ft-high cliff detached and now sits about 20ft lower, leaving parts of the beach impassable.
- Dorset Council has closed the affected stretch of the South West Coast Path and the beach below and is working on a diversion.
- Authorities had been monitoring the site after a large crevice appeared on the cliff top, and earlier warnings flagged increased landslip risk.
- Coastguards urge the public, especially fossil hunters, to keep away from cliff edges and the cliff base as further slips could occur, noting recent nearby slides at West Bay and Monmouth Beach.