SIGHTSEERS are ignoring warnings to stay away from a treacherous landslide on the Dorset coast.

One resident was shocked to see a party of schoolchildren clambering over the landslide directly below the cliffs with their teachers looking on.

Local people have reported an influx of visitors keen to see the massive landslide which wiped out around 100 metres of cliff on the coastal path between Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door on Monday night.

They are echoing coastguards’ warnings for people to stay away from the cliff edge and to follow diversion notices.

Layla Miller, of Lulworth fishmonger’s Cove Fish, said she is worried about the number of people walking across the landslide on the beach below at St Oswald’s Bay.

She said: “I saw quite a lot of schoolchildren clambering over the landslide.

“Their teachers were letting them walk all over the main bit of the rubble that had come down. One of them was even throwing stones at it. You would think their teachers would have a bit more sense.

The Lulworth Estate and Dorset County Council have put diversionary routes in place allowing the South West Coast Path to remain fully open.

The estate is urging people to exercise ‘due care’ and behave responsibly when visiting the area.

It is also telling visitors to observe all warning and diversion notices and avoid sitting directly beneath the cliffs.

Walkers using the South West Coast Path are advised to keep to the designated route and stay away from the edge.

Estate chief James Weld said: “This spectacular cliff fall is part of the natural erosion process along the Jurassic Coast and is a common feature of this area, primarily during the winter and spring, although seldom on this scale.

“As always, visitors to this stunning coastline should take care and be aware of their own safety.”

John Scott, of the Discover Purbeck Information Centre, said he is urging everyone who inquires about the landslide to ‘stay away’ from it.

The Lulworth Estate points out that Durdle Door Holiday Park is fully open and the beaches at Durdle Door, St. Oswald’s Bay and Lulworth Cove also remain open.

• A dangerous coastline

ON February 20, 1977, a landslip at Lulworth Cove engulfed a school party from Surrey, killing a teacher and a pupil and seriously injuring two others.

Torrential rain was thought to be responsible for the cliff collapse.

The group from Warlingham Comprehensive School had walked around the Lulworth beach to the east point of the cove, and the teacher had stopped them under the 75-foot-high cliff to point out the rock structure when the cliff suddenly gave way.

In 1975 a woman was killed by a cliff fall at Durdle Door while she was sunbathing on the beach below and the same year a schoolboy with a field study group was seriously injured by a rock fall at Swanage.