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Families diced with death as they crowded onto the edges of a 530ft cliff on England’s southern coast – despite two major cliff falls in the past three months.
Shocking pictures showed holidaymakers, dog walkers and even young children creeping to the sides of the crumbling cliffs for a scenic selfie on the famous Birling Gap cliffs.
In one shot, a small child toddles just feet from the cliff edge, while another shows a pair of youngsters holding hands with their parents as they peer over the edge and down to the beach below.
The picturesque white chalk cliff face near Eastbourne, East Sussex, where the South Downs meet the sea, is a popular tourist destination.
Despite regular cliff falls and a terrifying drop, visitors continue to venture perilously close to the edge to snap the perfect shot of the striking view.
One picture shows a pair of youngsters holiding hands with their parents as they peer down towards Birling Gap beach
In one shot, a small child is seen just feet from the cliff edge, while other visitors are seen taking pictures around the toddler
Tourists were seen taking selfies at the beauty spot, with one person dicing with death as he appeared to peer over the edge
Earlier this month, emergency services were called to Birling Gap after four people started a fire beneath the unstable cliffs.
In January, the beach below was closed after a section of the cliff fell away, amid fears of further rockfalls.
And last March, huge chunks of the Seven Sisters cliff fell onto Birling Gap beach after the coastline was lashed by high winds.
A similar incident in March 2021 resulted in warnings to the public not to pose for pictures close to the cliff edge.
Last summer, tourists were even seen laying down a picnic blanket just feet from the edge.
Storm Nelson hit Britain yesterday and caused widespread disruption with torrential rain and strong winds.
Further down England’s southern coast in Devon, with the roof torn off
Studies carried out by the National Trust showed the cliff edge is likely to recede by as much as 25-30m (82-98ft) by 2036.
One man posed for a risky shot right on the edge of the chalk cliff in East Sussex
The man told his friend to take the picture as he fooled around by the edge of the 500ft-high cliff
Crowds gathered at the popular walking spot on Good Friday as the weather cleared following Storm Nelson
The National Trust advises people to stay at least 5m back from the cliff edge at all times – but many tourists still approach the edge to get the perfect photograph
The erosion is so rapid that part of the historic Birling Gap Hotel – which dates back to the 1870s – is currently being demolished and rebuilt further from the cliff edge.
Now used as a café and visitor centre by the National Trust, it was just five yards from collapsing into the Channel.
The cliffs have cracks hidden under the turf that get bigger as they erode through a combination of wind and water pounding it from the English Channel.
The National Trust advises people to stay at least 5m back from the cliff edge at all times to lower the risk of accidentally falling or being caught in a collapse.
It also encourages people on the beach below to stay at least 5m away from the cliff base at all times, to reduce the risk of objects and rocks from above hitting them.
In 2017 a South Korean student died when she slipped off the edge of the crumbling cliffs after jumping in the air for a photograph.
Hyewon Kim, 23, who had come to Britain to improve her English, suffered catastrophic head injuries in the fall.
Photographs found on her mobile phone showed the student happily posing with her back to the cliff-edge in the seconds before her death.