More than 40 geology college students threat their lives to face below 150ft crumbling cliff – ignoring warning indicators about rock fall
This snap shows the nerve-wracking moment geology students stand beneath a notoriously unstable cliff to study it – even though there were warning signs about getting close.
More than 40 students and staff made their way along the narrow beach at West Bay in Dorset which experiences regular rock falls.
Despite warning signs advising the public to keep away from the cliffs, the group gathered just a few yards from the base during the field trip to the Jurassic Coast.
Wearing red hard hats and yellow high-viz vests, the group examined the 180-million-year-old sandstone rocks from a distance.
A shocked resident observed them there for at least 20 minutes.
Simon Wilmott said: ‘I was taking my drone for a test flight and when I got to the car park I saw about 20 students coming off the beach.
‘Then I saw there was about abother 40 of them further along the beach standing under the cliff.
‘They were pretty close to it but the tide was in so there wasn’t a lot of room for them.
More than 40 students and staff made their way along the narrow beach at West Bay in Dorset which experiences regular rock falls
The 180-million-year-old sandstone rocks regularly fall from the cliff, prompting warnings from the council to not walk under them
‘There are plenty of warning signs around telling people about the danger of rock falls that regularly happen there.
‘They were all wearing hard hats but I don’t think they would have been much use in the event of a rockfall.’
One of the most recent landslips at West Bay, which doubles as Broadchurch in the hit ITV crime drama, occurred in January.
On that occasion about 500 tonnes of rock fell onto the beach when a section of the 150ft cliff suddenly collapsed.
Video showed about 20 people walking on the beach at the time and some had to run for their lives to escape the falling rocks.
The falling debris caused a thick, golden plume of dust as it hit the sand – but onlookers seemed unbothered by the collapse.
The dust cleared to reveal a 30ft pile of rock that cut off the beach at the seaside resort which featured in Broadchurch.
The coastguard was called to the scene to check if anyone was trapped under the rocks but fortunately no casualties were reported.
Do YOU think these students took a reckless risk or is this just part of real-world learning?
Around 20 beachgoers witnessed the dramatic collapse of the cliff in January, which caused tonnes of debris to come crashing down on the sand
Rockfalls are common along the stretch of cliffs at West Bay, which are generally caused by heavy rainfall that seeps into and weakens the sandstone rock over time.
Dorset Council and coastguards regularly urge people to take notice of warning signs and to stay away from the base of cliffs.
Dorset Council said at the time of the collapse: ‘Rockfalls and landslips can happen at any time.
‘If you are out on the coast, please stay safe by taking notice of warning signs and keep to existing paths.
‘Stay away from the edge and the base of cliffs.
‘Rockfalls and landslips are part of the movement which makes up the unique nature of this coastline.’
In 2012, 22-year-old tourist Charlotte Blackman was crushed to death by a rockfall as she walked under the cliffs further along the beach at Burton Bradstock.
