Moment 'hundreds of tonnes' of rock crash down onto beach metres away from sunbathers

Published: 12:20, 13 August 2026 | Updated: 12:29, 13 August 2026 This is the moment 'tonnes' of rock came crashing down onto a beach only metres away from unsuspecting sunbathers.  Footage captured from a nearby pub shows the rocks cascading from a 250million-year-old cliff in Sidmouth, Devon, before landing on the shingle beach below.  An 80-ft-long debris pile then formed on the sands as the area was engulfed by a huge cloud of red dust. Kristopher Perry, who shot the footage on his mobile phone, was stood only 25 metres away from the rockfall, which witnesses say was one of a series to occur that day.  In his video, a woman can be heard describing the fall as 'absolutely mental,' while Mr Perry said it was the 'biggest rockfall' he has seen.  He said: 'It must have been 30 or 40 metres stretched out to the sea. 'There were about 10 that came down in the space of an hour so I was kind of prepared for it. 'People are advised not to go to that part of the beach so nobody was close to it at the time.' Video footage captured the moment rocks from a 250million-year-old cliff came crashing down on a Devon beach The rockfall was described as 'absolutely mental' by a witness  The immediate area below was engulfed by a huge cloud of red dust  The prolonged period of hot weather is believed to have caused the rockfall, seeing the mudstone cliffs dry out and eventually crumble.  It comes as almost three quarters of England is now experiencing drought due to the escalating temperatures, with officials warning conditions under the dry spell are only set to worsen.  More than 27million people in England and Wales are currently under hosepipe bans after the driest-ever July – which saw some parts of the country receive just 1 per cent of the expected rainfall. At present, nowhere in England is considered to be under 'normal' conditions. Following the rockfall, the Sidmouth Independent Lifeboat has urged beachgoers to stay away from the cliffs.  A spokesperson for the charity said: 'Please do not walk along East Beach or climb over piles of fallen rock beneath the cliffs. 'The cliffs in this area are extremely unstable, and further falls can happen suddenly and without warning. 'Please stay off this beach and away from the base of the cliffs.'