Coastal erosion: What's the future for Fairbourne and Hemsby?

A community leader has visited a coastal area where homes have fallen into the sea to see what lessons can be learned as his own village is being threatened by the waves.

Sea defences at Fairbourne, a village on the north west coast of Wales, will stop being maintained in the 2050s.

Stuart Eves, chairman of the Fairbourne Community Council, visited Hemsby, Norfolk, where homes have been lost to coastal erosion.

He spoke to people like local councillor James Bensley who told him the situation was "on a knife edge".

They believe more coastal communities could suffer the same fate in the future without action.

"And when it does come I'd like everybody to be prepared. And they're not," Mr Eves told BBC Wales Live.

Gwynedd council said it has been working with the local community in Fairbourne and others, including Natural Resources Wales which is responsible for maintaining the defences, to "put strategies in place to protect the residents of Fairbourne".

"By talking to the community sooner rather than later, our aim is to work through these difficult issues together in order to give ourselves as much time as possible to come up with viable options and the best possible solutions," said a spokesperson.

27 February 2020