Repair work to start on 'van-sized' promenade void

Work to repair a large void under a seaside promenade is due to get under way.

North Norfolk District Council said the subsurface cavity in Sheringham was large enough to "accommodate a Transit van".

It was discovered earlier this month following investigations, and fences were placed around the area to keep people away.

Liberal Democrat councillor Harry Blathwayt hoped the eastern part of the promenade would reopen before Easter.

He said the "washout from a slumping cliff behind a sea wall" had formed the void, and it was impossible to predict if another would form in the future.

"We have two irresistible forces, one is the sea and one is the movement of the land, and we try and insert an immovable object in between those two forces, but they interact," he explained.

"It is always going to be constant maintenance."

A council spokesperson said a series of investigations had been completed to establish the cause of the loss of material.

"This is a complex engineering challenge with a very significant area undermined by wave and water action," they said.

Further along the coast a large sinkhole has also opened up on Hunstanton Promenade, which has been fenced off ahead of emergency repair work.

Sandra Squire, cabinet member for environment at the Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk, said the "recent bad weather and coastal flooding" had accelerated the road's deterioration.

Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.