YESTERDAY’S cliff fall at Seaford Head shows just how dangerous our seaside can be.

With thousands out enjoying the sunshine, an estimated 50,000 tons of chalk suddenly fell into the surf. Thankfully it appeared last night that nobody had been caught up in it.

Sadly we have had to report time and time again how people have enjoyed sitting on the edge of the cliff, often posing for a photograph. In fact this has happened very close to where yesterday’s dram unfolded.

The National Trust museum at Birling Gap, which is just east of Seaford Head, shows how far and how quickly the cliffs along there will recede.

Video displays show how the chalky cliffs can suddenly give way.

Some of the buildings on the edge there have already been lost.

So it is wise to stay away from both the edge of the cliff and the foot of it at the beach.

Our dramatic pictures today show that it is wise to be vigilant anywhere near the cliff. That cloud of chalky dust stretched out to sea so it would have been extremely thick at the water’s edge.

Thankfully our emergency services were quickly at the scene and were thoroughly checking the area. Thanks to those dedicated individuals we quickly found out that early fears of people being hurt seemed to have been wrong.

Only if people are careful can we make sure this remains the case as more of the cliffs will give way. And with the weather hitting close to 30 degrees yesterday there were lots of people at the beach.

Today is not expected to be so hot but with warm spells expected to become more commonplace we need to remain wary in future.