Section of Weymouth's sea wall appears to have collapsed

The wall at Greenhill Beach can be seen sagging towards the sea and appears to be held in place by large stones. The footpath remains open to the public.

This comes as Dorset Council undergoes work to reinforce this section of the sea wall which was started on Monday, March 4 and had been expected to be completed by the end of the week.

A spokesperson for Dorset Council said: "On Tuesday afternoon, approximately 60m of the seawall at Greenhill failed while we were working to stabilise it.

“Our Highways and Flood and Coastal Erosion teams are working together to stabilise the structure and intend to carry out emergency remedial works over the coming days. The prom remains open to members of the public.”

Read more: Weymouth: Greenhill Beach sea wall repairs get underway

The wall this morning (Image: Cristiano Magaglio)

These repairs have closed part of the beach from the Seascape Café to the Brunswick Café at the end of Brunswick Terrace.

The council has said that without this maintenance work, the foundations of the sea wall could be undermined by the action of the waves, which in turn would cause significant damage to the promenade over time.

Former borough councillor and Weymouth resident James Farquharson said: "The structure toppling over must have been an unpleasant surprise for the digger driver. I believe the sea walls haven't had much maintenance for decades so it's not entirely surprising something like this would happen. I do feel for the new council having to sort out the backlog of works it inherited from its predecessors."

The work is being managed by Dorset Council’s highways team, and highways officers will be put in place to provide some traffic management to ensure that members of the public using the promenade are kept safe.

This comes after a section of Weymouth's harbour wall collapsed last month opposite the former council office site at North Quay. The green and white railings could be seen suspended in mid-air as the wall beneath sagged into the water.

This also comes as annual work being carried out on Weymouth Beach to re-level the beach was completed last week.