AS new cracks appear almost daily in the cliffs in front of the Blue Anchor Hotel, owner Cara Strom said this week that she is in a race against time to save her home and business from falling into the sea.

Massive erosion after Storm Emma and recent gales and high tides have brought the 16th century building only ten feet from the cliff edge.

And Cara said it could be only weeks or even days before the hotel is in immediate danger if nothing is done.

“We have closed the hotel for overnight bookings as the health and safety of the guests is paramount,” she said.

“It is extremely frustrating because last weekend we were fully booked.”

The news brought over 500 responses on Facebook from people urging the authorities to take action before it was too late.

Cara told the Free Press: “The hotel bar will remain open as I can safely evacuate those guests and monitor the tide but I cannot do that overnight.

“We have had urgent talks with the Environment Agency about getting grants to provide protection for the hotel.

“We have been working hard to find a solution which is not only feasible but could be funded, but unfortunately time may simply be against us.

“The ultimate answer would be an extension of the Blue Anchor sea wall but we have been told the cost would be prohibitive. But to me, doing nothing is simply not an option.”

Cara said that cliff falls have accelerated alarmingly recently: “I have never seen it as bad as this.

She said she had been at the hotel since 2004 and for most of that time the cliff in front of the hotel has been crumbling at the rate of at least a metre a month.

During one spell of violent weather, three metres was lost in two weeks. The hotel has now closed its children’s play area and cordoned off most of the garden for the safety of guests.

Cara said: “We informed West Somerset Council at a recent area panel that the winter had not been kind to the cliff and that things were accelerating.

“Although it is still stable, once the pub does fall into the sea, the road will be next and to me it seems a false economy not to prevent any further erosion now.”

Four years ago, West Somerset Council abandoned plans to bid to the Environment Agency for money to fund a Blue Anchor sea defence.

The Environment Agency, which estimated the scheme would have cost around £500,00, offered to contribute £250,000 but West Somerset Council said money was not available to underwrite the project.