CLIFF-TOP residents in Sidmouth who have lost up to 15 metres of their gardens have taken matters into their own hands.

Residents who live in 12 properties on Cliff Road say their properties are threatened because of cliff erosion. They have submitted a planning application for a protection scheme to East Devon District Council.

The residents have funded the £10,000 application themselves which is for a 240-metre long, 4.5-metre high rock revetment at the base of the cliffs near Pennington Point at the mouth of the River Sid.

The scheme could cost around £900,000 of public money.

Residents say their homes could fall over the cliff face within 15 years if action is not taken soon.

They say the erosion was accelerated from around 2002 after the installation of rock groynes along the seafront in 1995.

Resident, Peter Hand, 71, said: "In the last 10 years the cliffs have eroded more than they have in the last 100 years. We've been campaigning for over a decade for something to be done about the rate of erosion.

"When the rock groynes were put in, the current in the bay changed. The shingle, that used to move back and forwards, gets taken away by the tides and doesn't replenish.

"As a result, the waves began to hit the cliffs at the eastern end of Sidmouth far more.

"When I first moved here, a footpath ran along the cliff tops at the bottom of our gardens, but that has now disappeared.

"We're worried about who will be liable if someone is killed on the beach below because it's our land not the council's anymore."

Paul Griew, 63, said residents were also concerned the cliff erosion at the mouth of the river may mean the town and sewage works become flooded.

He said: "We're probably doing the council's work for them, but if this is what it takes to kick start the process then so be it. In 2007 the cliffs were eroding at about two metres a year and by 2009 it was an average of three – four metres a year. One resident lost 10 metres of his garden in 2002 alone.

"And I've lost 15 metres in the last two years.

"There is a real and immediate risk to our homes – if it continues like this at the current rate we'll have to leave our homes in 15 years.

"And one of the country's busiest footpaths, which is used by around 250,000 people a year, will disappear.

"This could have a disastrous affect on tourism and the economy of Sidmouth.

An East Devon District Council spokesman said: "Until recently, coastal protection policy did not allow for this section of coastline to be considered for the kind of works proposed in this application.

"Now an area to the east of the River Sid is part of a 'unit' in the latest version of the national Shoreline Management Plan. This unit is earmarked for 'managed realignment'. This could mean a scheme of some description might be possible here, but it will be subject to many checks and balances before it could go ahead.

"There is a tension between coastal protection and allowing natural processes of erosion, and there are strong lobbies for both approaches.

"Any scheme will have to pass the scrutiny of Natural England and the Environment Agency."