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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Tim Hanlon

Man has to pull home back from a cliff for the second time after losing 40m of land

A man is being forced to drag his home further inland for a second time, so it avoids toppling over a cliff - having lost four metres of ground to erosion just last weekend.

Former soldier, Lance Martin, 65, first pulled his home back from the cliff edge at Hemsby, Norfolk, in 2018 after losing 40 metres of his back garden to erosion.

Now he said he'll drag it back a further 40 metres this week with a tractor, after several neighbouring homes were demolished last weekend.

And Great Yarmouth Borough Council had earmarked his one-bedroom, chalet bungalow home for demolition.

Ex-Grenadier Guard Lance was one of five residents of The Marrams in Hemsby to be evacuated last Thursday evening, after a 3.5-metre tide threatened their homes once again.

Lance has seen his property lose more than 40m due to coastal erosion (PA)

Three homes have now been demolished due to public safety risks as they teetered on the edge of the sand dune cliffs.

Lance lost four metres from his back garden over the weekend, which he had reinforced with rocks and fencing to slow the erosion.

His home now lies just one metre from the cliff edge.

His property moved several metres nearer to the edge last weekend (PA)

The retiree said: "The overwhelming feeling amongst the neighbours is one of despair. I keep a smile on my face. I haven't broken down yet. I crack on with it- there's nobody to blame, you just have to accept it and move on."

When he first moved into his £95,000 detached one-bed, in 2017, he had 40 metres of sand dunes before the beach and sea beyond.

He was told by an environmental impact study that he would have up to 40 years before the cliffs reached his house, but they now stand just one metre away from his backdoor.

Lance is having to move his house back for a second time (PA)

He hasn't been able to return to his home since Thursday evening, staying in a chalet nearby and was forced to clear out his belongings in case he lost his house over the edge across the weekend.

The charity that owns the land, Watling Norwich Limited, has offered him land on the opposite side of the road for free - he just has to drag his house into the gap.

Other homes have had to be demolished by the cliff edge (James Linsell-Clark/ SWNS.com)

Lance has been given until the end of the week to move his house back across the road by 20 metres, after dragging it 10 metres into his front garden in 2018.

Lance, who lives alone, said: "I've set up talks about dragging the house forward again. In 2018 we reinforced the inside and rebuilt the floor joists east to west in case we had to do it again.

"Once we clear the land in front of the house there are 20 metres to pull it forward, plus the 10m the house is standing on now. I've been hedging my bets but in hindsight, I should have moved it again a while back."

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