'It’s like a bomb’s gone off': Shock as part of a coast road in Devon is washed away by the sea
Watch: Drone footage from ITV West Country's Penny Cross showing the road collapse
Part of the A379 coast road near Torcross in Devon has collapsed after sea defences were damaged during last month’s storms.
Residents woke up on Tuesday 3rd February to find a section of the road had washed away.
Posting on social media, the owners of The Start Bay Inn at Torcross said: “It’s a mess, like a bomb has gone off. The road to the pub on the Leyside is filled with debris and not drivable.”
“We are heartbroken,” they added.
It wasn’t just the road which took a beating. Houses and businesses along the sea front already damaged by the previous storms were dealt another catastrophic blow.
The front of Julie Shaw’s home had been blown in by the previous storms and she was staying with a neighbour to oversee repairs when the high seas began to rage last night.
Ms Shaw said: “I put everything in the car, closed the car up and I was almost knocked to the ground by the waves coming over the house.
“I had to evacuate, came back this morning and it’s devastating, absolutely devastating.
"We’ve been hit three times in a week so with the sea wall the way it is at the moment we have to check on a day by day basis and if something’s happened trying to get it shored up.”
Another local resident told ITV News West Country: “This is just devastating for the whole area, people commuting to Dartmouth backwards and forwards, the pub, people living here.
“It’s just so sad, and the back roads aren’t good for getting around with the traffic, and we’ve not started on the holiday season yet.”
Watch: Terry Pyper's video of the waves crashing over the roof of the Start Bay Inn at Torcross
Kim Willis, a resident who lives close to Torcross said “At the section nearest the pub and houses, it is just the car park now and the waves are eating into it.
“I do feel as though if it was London, or almost anywhere else in the country, though, that there would be a massive response, almost to the point where the army would be down there, but we’re left to get on with it.
“It’s a sorry state of affairs.”
Her husband, Ed Willis, said the repair effort that had already been underway had been constrained by the weather.
“The workers said they have been restricted in terms of what they can do as they don’t have enough opportunity at low tide to move all the new rock armour into place, so I don’t think they have had a chance to shore up the bit that was initially broken,” he said.
“And they are expecting the weather to get worse tonight because of a higher tide.”
Mr Willis, who is a qualified surveyor, said he believed the concrete walkway between the properties at Torcross and the beach had also been compromised.
“It sits behind the existing sea defences but I think it has dropped by about 20mm-40mm, and when a big wave hits it, it feels like the concrete walkway shudders,” he said.
“I think all that has been undermined, and some of the houses look in a state whereby they can’t be saved.”
Councillor Laurel Lawford said the damage was “really, really bad”.
“It has gone all the way back to the car park, through the grass verge,” she said.
“I’ve spoken to someone who has sent their drone over and they estimate there is approximately 300 metres of damage.
“It’s very bad, and the drop down to the beach from the destroyed road is about 15 feet deep, I would guess. It’s an absolute mess – the car park is damaged and there is more damage to the properties along the front too.”
South Devon MP, Caroline Voaden, said: “This is the news that we’ve all been dreading. The pictures coming out of the A379 Slapton Line are absolutely devastating.
“One of my team is on the ground now and said the force of the waves is shaking the road; it is terrifying.
"I am doing everything I can to support the local community and businesses, including urgently trying to secure a meeting with the Department of Transport.
“Before this disaster, I had been calling for far greater government support for coastal communities being battered by more intense and frequent storms.
“Today those calls take on an even greater resonance; the Environment Agency is visiting the area today and I will be doing all I can in Westminster to get the significant help needed from the government.”
In response to Ms Voaden's calls for increased support for coastal communities, The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) highlighted how they have invested around £667 million between April 2024 and March 2026 into protection from sea flooding, tidal flooding and coastal erosion.
The Department of Transport has been approached for a comment.