Living On The Edge
First came the cracks in the lawn, then the cracks turned to crevices and within a matter of days Derek and Susanne watched their entire garden slide away from their house into the sea.
"Every time I left home I wondered what it would be like when I came back," said Susanne Whitemore, who was working away as a nanny at the time.
"It was going at such a fast rate, it was quite worrying."
Susanne and her partner, Derek Hallitt, have lived on Lyme Regis's Church Cliff for 16 years.
The couple, who liken their lifestyle to The Good Life TV series, are virtually self sufficient. Their 100ft garden once contained an apple orchard, lawn and shed.
"The shed became a beach hut," said Derek, who also keeps livestock at a nearby smallholding.
"Every time I left home I wondered what it would be like when I came back."
"It was worst on January 5, 2003. It was my mother's 90th birthday and we were organising a party for her. It was really slipping bad.
"We lost about 70ft of garden over all. We were happy when it stopped. We have got 24ft in front of the house now."
After the slip the council installed 16 piles, each 52ft deep, into the cliff to stabilise Derek and Susanne's property but the work was only guaranteed for 10 years.
West Dorset District Council is currently pleading with Defra to fund a £15 million scheme to save the eastern side of the town.
Surrounding Derek and Susanne's house are 172 other properties which could be affected by further landslips.
Last year's landslip was the biggest in 100 years. Photo: Roz Tappenden
Last year, just yards from the threatened homes, nearly 1,500ft of cliff slid onto the beach. Police said it was the worst collapse in a century.
The cliffs here are a layer cake of geological history, supported by a tier of clay which can slide, taking everything else with it.
Brian Thornber, who runs a guest house further up the hill, said: "We are concerned about what’s going to happen but we are not in any immediate danger and we have another 15 to 20 years before the house starts to disappear.
"I’m coming up to 80 so that part of it does not worry me but every time there is a landslip I do become more concerned."
"The whole infrastructure for the town is at risk."
Also at risk are the allotments on East Cliff. Allotments secretary Tony Rice said: "We've had no problems really but we'll have to wait and see what happens."
Daryl Turner, a councillor for both West Dorset District Council and Lyme Regis Town Council, said the money from Defra could not come soon enough.
"We recently inspected the sea wall and there's another ten years on it," he explained, "but at one point the main road into Lyme is only 50 metres from the edge so the whole infrastructure for the town is at risk."
Worryingly, Cllr Turner says there is just £110 million of funding available for coastal protection works in the whole of Great Britain.
Residents can only hope the money arrives before it's too late.
