Landslip at cliffs popular with tourists and fossil hunters

Black Ven, in Lyme Regis, is known for its mudslides and rockfalls, with one recent incident seeing boulders fall onto the beach in late-October.

Connie Wyatt, a local fossil hunter, said the latest landslip occurred yesterday and into the early hours of this morning (Thursday, November 11). She believes it is the ‘largest slip on this part of the Jurassic Coast since 2008’.

She observed how the landslide had been slowly moving over the last two months ‘but has been progressively getting worse’.

Landslip at Black Ven at Lyme Regis. Picture: Connie Wyatt

Ms Wyatt said: “It started to fall rapidly yesterday afternoon (Wednesday, November 10) and I managed to warn families to safety and to get them out of the way of the cliff.”

Photos taken by Ms Wyatt show the landslip has fallen down the cliff, with a mixture of Blue Lias mud and rocks.

She warned that the mud is ‘incredibly sticky’ and warned people to stay away from the area.

Ms Wyatt believed that the landslip may have occurred to due to the weight of rubbish dumped on the cliffs centuries ago.

She said: “It may have been because of all of the rubbish on the cliff. Many years ago, people used to put their rubbish on Black Ven.

“Landslips have been happening for a long time but this landslip is quite a big one.”

A spokeswoman for Dorset Council said: "There has been a minor mud slip at Black Venn in Lyme Regis and the nearby coast path is closed.

"Officers have assessed the site and there is no major concern. We will provide updates should this change."

The landslip comes two days after a part of the East Cliff at West Bay fell on Tuesday morning, with tons of rocks crashing down onto the beach.

At the time there were swimmers in the sea who witnessed the fall and confirmed they had not seen anyone walking along that stretch of beach.

It was later confirmed no-one had been injured in the incident.