Norfolk and Suffolk coast eroding 'faster than expected'

They made the claim during a specially-convened parliamentary debate to examine the issue, calling on ministers to take greater notice of what is happening and to make more cash available to protect the shoreline.

Waveney MP Peter Aldous secured the House of Commons Westminster Hall debate on the issue this week, following the recent destruction of properties and the collapse of roads at Hemsby in Norfolk and Pakefield in Suffolk.

He called for an emergency package for Coastal Partnership East - an alliance between Great Yarmouth, North Norfolk and East Suffolk councils -  to better protect communities.

Waveney MP Peter Aldous (Image: UK Parliament)

Conservative Mr Aldous said: "We can predict what is going to happen - it is the speed at which it is happening that is catching us all unawares.

"Coastal Partnership East needs an emergency package to get it through this really challenging period.

"We must then get away from crisis management and move to the more strategic, scientific, qualitative approach that the Tyndall Centre is proposing."

The Tyndall Centre, based at the University of East Anglia, recently told the all-parliamentary group for the east of England that 11,000 houses on the coast will be threatened by flooding and erosion this century, if current policies continue.

Homes in Hemsby are demolished (Image: PA)

Mr Aldous said it was vital that work on a barrage to protect Lowestoft should "proceed without delay" and that, at Pakefield, the toe of the cliff must be protected and the cliff access road saved from crumbling into the sea.

He said: "It is clear those who have lost their home to the sea are not provided with the appropriate level of compensation and support.

"It is concerning that the existing grant funding arrangements for protecting communities from coastal erosion are not working, are not fair and equitable, and need to be reviewed."

Sir Brandon Lewis

Great Yarmouth MP Sir Brandon Lewis said the loss of homes in Hemsby was "a tragedy" and the impact of extreme weather had gone "way beyond" what had been predicted.

North West Norfolk MP James Wild (Image: Richard Townshend Photography)

North Norfolk MP Duncan Baker and North West Norfolk MP James Wild also spoke in the debate, with Mr Wild warning: "It should be a common cause that a managed retreat for loss of land is not acceptable in north west Norfolk. We need to hold the line."