Landslip at Oddicombe beach turns sea red
A landslip at a beach in south Devon has turned the sea in the area red and caused an already partially collapsed empty house to be further damaged.
Thousands of tonnes of earth and stone were estimated to have fallen at Oddicombe beach on Tuesday night, Torbay Council said.
A section of the beach has been closed as a result.
The collapse follows a seawall between Torquay and Paignton being breached earlier in the week.
The area is famous for its red earth and sandstone.
The collapsed house, in one of the most expensive areas of Torquay, has been uninhabitable for some time.
It used to have a large cliff-facing garden, which has eroded away over several years, and part of the house itself went down a neighbouring cliff in December.
Staff at Oddicombe's beach cafe said the business was to remain open.
The Torquay and Paignton seawall was breached on Monday, resulting in the road being closed and diversions put in place.
Torbay Council said repairs would take much of the week.
Torbay MP Adrian Sanders said he would raise questions with the council about the wall collapse as it was "causing major disruption to local residents and businesses".
Gordon Oliver, elected mayor of the Conservative-controlled unitary council, said local sea defences were inspected "very regularly", and engineers were at the site within an hour of the collapse.
Last December, Torbay Council said a major landslip was "imminent" at Oddicombe, after it got the results of a geological survey.
The entire beach was closed for several days in 2010 after a landslide which brought down about 5,000 tonnes of sandstone.
Oddicombe is a "Blue Flag" beach and it has also received a Quality Coast award.