Van driver plunges over 100ft cliff onto beach to spark massive emergency response

Published: 14:24, 13 May 2026 | Updated: 14:28, 13 May 2026 A van driver has plunged over a 100ft cliff onto the beach below, sparking a major emergency response. The white van 'left the road and went over the cliffs on to the beach below', Northumbria Police said.  The force called to an area near the A183 Coast Road in South Shields, a road which runs along Marsden Beach and the surrounding cliffs, at 6.10am this morning after a report of a concern for someone's welfare. Only one person is believed to have been inside the vehicle. An emergency response saw Tynemouth RNLI and HM Coastguard among the first to arrive before they were joined by Northumbria Police, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, and the North East Ambulance Service. For reasons currently unknown, the van 'left the road and went over the cliffs on to the beach below', the force said Images show the van at the bottom of the cliff with the front end submerged in the sea water and the back end pointed up Emergency services are still in attendance and enquiries are ongoing.  Images show the van at the bottom of the cliff with the front end submerged in the sea water and the back end pointed up. A spokesperson for the North East Ambulance Service earlier said: 'We were called to the Marsden area at 6.10am following concerns for a person. We dispatched a clinical team leader and one ambulance crew.' The Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, HM Coastguard, and Tynemouth RNLI, confirmed they were also at the scene, with the RNLI adding: 'We launched this morning to a multi-agency call.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.