THE West Dorset community has been rocked by the tragedy. County councillor Rebecca Knox said her sympathies were with the friends and families of the people involved.

She said: “It is an extremely sad tragedy. It is very sad both for the families and friends and also the community of Beaminster who no doubt will also express their sympathy. “It was an extreme shock.

“The landslide caused an enormous amount of interest. Not only was it sadly a tragedy for the travelling public and for the community and now there is an added and even bigger sadness. “We had thought that there hadn’t been anyone hurt at the time.”

Mrs Knox said the mudslide had not been cleared since the flood because of the instability of the tunnel.

She said: “The tunnel was still very unstable. I was there with the structural engineer from the county council and really it needed to be made safe and that was the most important thing. “The whole site was being made safe. My understanding is that safety was absolutely paramount for anyone who was either near there or those inspecting the site.”

Town and district councillor Janet Page said she was equally shocked by the news.

She said: “I did see the fire engine up there on Monday night. I did wondered what was going on. It is a horrid thought. People have been going up and looking at it. I did, it is the tourist attraction of the day. You can go and stand at the barriers and have a look.

“It was difficult to see much, there is this mass of green and that is all you can see really.

“It almost blocks the entrance. “I know they were waiting for a surveyor to come and have a look at the actual structure of the tunnel to see what damage had been done and what to do to stabilise it. It is a tragedy.”

Flood warden and former town councillor Douglas Beazer said: “I am desperately sorry to hear about this. It is very sad. “All this week many people around the town have been saying thank goodness no-body has been hurt. “It is such a startling revelation.”

‘I can’t believe that happened and nobody noticed’ WI president Maggie Warnett, who lives just above the tunnel, said: “I came home at midnight on Monday night and there were police cars everywhere, policemen running back and forth with walkie talkies.

“It is just unbelievable. The tunnel looks like it has been abandoned for centuries, not a week. “I am absolutely gobsmacked.”

Her son was visiting at the weekend and they went to show him what had happened to the tunnel in the floods.

She said: “We walked right to the entrance to the tunnel and took loads of close-up photographs and I am amazed that we didn’t see anything.

“They have obviously been careful not to disturb much because they wanted to make sure the tunnel was safe before they allowed anyone in to think about clearing it, that is what we assumed. “We all used that tunnel on that Saturday.

“I am going back and forth to Beaminster all the time. “I have spoken to a couple of people who said they only missed it by a few minutes.

“I am totally shocked. You cannot believe that could happen and nobody notice.

“Officials have been going in and out of that tunnel, I have seen them. “It is just so sad.”

Anger and grief as word spreads

Former Beaminster teacher Stephen Yates said: “I am shocked. “Obviously somebody has gone missing and someone is desperately out there trying to find them. “I am kind of angry because there hasn’t been anything done about the tunnel.

“Why hasn’t anybody been in there to investigate what the mess is? “They have put gates up and stopped people going through, but why didn’t they check it?”

Steve Humphrey, barman at the Red Lion, said: “We only heard about it on the news on Tuesday morning, people don’t really know what’s going on.

“There were loads of police and fire brigade up around the tunnel on Tuesday but no one told us why. “It’s pretty shocking, especially for them not to have been found for so long.”

Les Roffey, of Windy Ridge, Beaminster, said: “We heard the road was closed but didn’t know about a car or people inside until Tuesday.

“It’s shocking that something like that could happen here. “What a horrible thing to happen.

“From what we’ve heard here in town they weren’t local, no one’s been reported missing from this area.

“It was so busy here during all the floods.”