Sunbathers were seen soaking up the rays beneath 100ft crumbling cliffs in the exact spot where a tourist was crushed to death by a landslip.
The two women and a man were pictured on Dorset s Jurassic Coast and appeared oblivious to the warning signs urging people to keep away from the cliffs.
Charlotte Blackman, 22, was trapped by a 35ft-deep pile of rubble in the same area when she walked along the beach in 2012.
Last December, an estimated 600 tonnes of rock and boulders the size of cars tumbled on to the beach after the 100ft sandstone cliffs took a battering from heavy rain and strong winds.
Black Down is a hill on the Purbeck Ridge, a natural formation made of chalk. The treeless summit is a popular viewing point and houses the Hardy Monument. This 72ft high structure was built in tribute to Sir Thomas Hardy, who was a commander during the Battle of Trafalgar. On a clear day, the view from Black Down stretches for miles with Chesil Beach and the Dorset downs observable.
The Cobb in Lyme Regis
The Cobb, Lyme Regis
- Credit: Terry Ife
This location is for all the Jane Austen fans who will no doubt recognise this location from
Persuasion. While it’s not recommended to frolic around like Louisa Musgrove, who jumps down the steps and gets a concussion, The Cobb has magnificent views of Lyme Bay and the English Channel.
People are being warned to stay away from cliffs in west Dorset as the Jurassic Coast continues to crumble. Winter weather has made cliffs along the coast unstable and it is warned that further rockfalls can happen at any time. The latest cliff fall occurred to the east of Charmouth on Monday. The Lyme Regis Coastguard Rescue Team was called to reports of a large cliff fall just before noon. By the time the team arrived a section of the cliff had already fallen, with other areas of the cliff reportedly continuing to crumble and fall. The team placed warning signs in the vicinity and advised members of the public who were in the immediate area.
HEAVY rainfall over the past week has increased the risk of cliff falls occurring along the west Dorset coast. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has issued further warnings after the county was battered by Storm Bella at the weekend. The storm which brought heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 80mph caused disruption across Dorset. The warning comes after a huge section of cliff fell at Hive Beach just before Christmas. That was the third significant rockfall along that stretch of coast since August. A MCA spokesman said: Some sections of our coastline are particularly vulnerable to cliff falls and landslips and these tend to be more frequent after heavy rain which has fallen on already saturated land.