FAMILIES living in a Watchet caravan park who have been living with the risk of their homes falling over a cliff were assured this week that the danger was over after a property was moved a safe distance from the crumbling cliff edge.

West Bay Park caravan park, on the B3191 road out of Watchet, was subject to enforcement action by Somerset West and Taunton council after a ‘significant cliff fall’ in February 2020 left two properties in danger of falling into the Bristol Channel.

The council has been working with the park’s owner to ensure affected homes were relocated and to prevent the residents from becoming homeless.

Officers have now confirmed the work has been completed, and the legal action against the park can now be concluded.

Under the terms of the park’s licence, its boundary must be at least three metres from the cliff edge in an area which has been subject to significant coastal erosion in recent years.

Officers were first alerted to the cliff fall on February 17, 2020, and carried out a site visit the following day.

Licensing specialist John Rendell told the council in March 2020 that the landslip had been ‘accelerated by the recent inclement weather’.

He added: “In one case, parts of a concrete foundation were exposed and posts supporting an area of decking were left hovering over the drop.”

Temporary accommodation for the affected households was found while the park’s owners worked to relocate the affected properties further back from the cliff edge.

For the full story see this week’s West Somerset Free Press.