RESIDENTS and visitors to Blue Anchor this week experienced a rare sight as the first batch of raw materials for work to combat coastal erosion splashed down from a huge barge moored just yards from the sea wall.

Blue Anchor rock armour being moved on the beach as work started this week.
Blue Anchor rock armour being moved on the beach as work started this week. (Ray Ventura)

Curious visitors and sea anglers watched as the first few loads of giant granite boulders to be used for protecting the sea wall, main B3191 road, and nearby properties from erosion of the cliffs were dumped off the deck of the barge Hagland Saga.

Somerset Council executive Cllr Steve Hughes said the granite boulders, weighing four to six tonnes each, were being lined up at the eastern end of the beach in readiness for months of work to position the rock armour most effectively to stop the sea undermining the soft Jurassic cliffs.

Rock armour arriving this week for the start of a Blue Anchor coastal protection project.
Rock armour arriving this week for the start of a Blue Anchor coastal protection project. (George Ody)

A spokesman for contractors Holyhead Towing Company told the Free Press: "The sea conditions were perfect for the first batch to be off-loaded on Tuesday afternoon."