Images show a road in the Isle of Wight is perilously close to falling due to being sat incredibly close to a cliff edge. Footage shows that Military Road on the Isle of Wight is just four metres away from a drop of more than 200ft.
Just three years ago, the drive was named as one of the most scenic in the country by Visit England but since then, parts of the cliff have crumbled away. Today, the road has become much more dangerous with uncertainty on if and when further erosion will occur.
Councillor Becca Cameron raised the terrifying prospect of a school bus going over the cliff. “I feel there is a serious risk to life”, she told a meeting of local residents.
It’s a possibility that the road could be washed away into the sea in two to 10 years, say officials at the Isle of Wight Council.
There’s also a footpath located close to the road which has been partially closed, reports Solent News.
If a car carrying passengers or a person walking were to fall, they would face a fall of around 230ft.
Cllr Cameron is a member of the Empowering Islanders group, a non-political group which among other projects has been campaigning for safety measures to be implemented on the road.
At a public meeting about the road, she said: “I called this meeting because I feel there is a serious risk to life – the drone footage shows how serious the risk is and how close the cliff is to the road.
“The fissure photo shows what’s under the road – when a bus passes over the cliff you can feel the vibrations underneath. We have no warning system if the road collapses.”
Additional monitoring equipment has been recommended by a highways service provider on the island but a sense of urgency for something to be done is growing.
This comes after other parts of the UK coast have faced cliff collapses, forever changing the landscape of surrounding areas.
In Torquay in 2020, a large section of the cliff at Livermead collapsed into the sea prompting a warning for the public to stay away.
The next morning after the incident, residents saw a Torbay Council boat examining the sea and noticed the large area of land at the end of The Headlands garden had disappeared, reports Devon Live.
Cliff collapses around the UK have prompted local authorities to consider what can be done to keep residents and tourists safe.