Costs for collapsed coastal road 'already £100k'

Work to "shore up" a coastal road which was partly washed away during stormy weather, has already cost about £100,000, a council has said.

Engineers working for Devon County Council (DCC) have been using diggers to position massive boulders along the shoreline to try to prevent more of the A379 at Torcross from being lost.

Parts of the route and a small car park, have crumbled away after sea defences protecting it were damaged last month.

A public meeting heard how the road could be shut until 2027, with calls for government funding to rebuild the road, which has been described by local residents as "vital".

It comes as investigations are under way by the Environment Agency (EA) after the sea defences at Torcross "showed signs of movement" following Storm Ingrid.

Residents had described being "really worried", after a crack opened up "right along the seafront".

The EA said the seawall in front of the residential properties in Torcross had been inspected but that it was "not concerned about the current stability of the flood defence".

The organisation said it had commissioning a detailed survey "as a priority" adding it will be "monitoring the defences long term".

Caroline Voaden, Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon, told residents at a recent public meeting that no decision about the road's future would be made in the short-term and she predicted the road would be shut for "at least" a year.

Previously the government had said it would work with the county council while the authority decided what to do next.

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