A WEST SOMERSET landlord is concerned his hotel will fall into the Bristol Channel if nothing is done to prevent coastal erosion in the near future.

Simon Strom, landlord of the Blue Anchor Hotel, has been appealing to the Government, Environment Agency and district council for the best part of a decade for something be done but says despite a lot of talk no action has been taken.

In December 2014, a £570,000 plan to extend the sea wall between Blue Anchor was dropped after West Somerset Council decided to drop the bid, owing to time pressures and the financial risk, as they would have had to cover any additional costs should the project have gone over-budget.

"I have noticed it get a lot worse with the bad weather in recent months, and I worry the whole garden will soon disappear. It could then affect the building and worse the main road into Blue Anchor which is a busy tourist route and often used a diversion route when crashes occur," Mr Strom said.

"People have said to me, 'well why did you buy a pub by the sea?', but we bought the place in 1999 and the erosion did not really become a problem until around 2006-2007 but has only gotten worse since."

Mr Strom, who said he and his wife had been willing to put up £50,000 of their own money into the sea wall defences, explained that they had previously moved a piece of play equipment shaped like a pirate ship nearer the hotel at a cost of £8,000, before having to destroy it altogether once the cliff eroded further.

"My wife and I feel we have done as much we can but I do not know what the next step is."

A spokesman for West Somerset Council said its position has not changed since Full Council took the decision in December 2014 not to submit a further funding bid to the Environment Agency.

"The cliffs are monitored regularly by the council and warnings have been issued about the hazards of potential rock falls. The most affected section currently is some 200m from the Blue Anchor Hotel," the spokesman said.

In December 2014 West Somerset Council said it regretted calling a halt to its bid for funding to address the sea cliff erosion at Blue Anchor.

The council had planned to submit a fresh bid to the Environment Agency to pay for work to protect the section of coastline that is vulnerable. But, following concerns regarding timescales and financial risk, the council said it was faced with no choice but to withdraw from the process.

Speaking in December 2014 Cllr Anthony Trollope-Bellew, who was then Lead Member for the Environment, said: “With deep regret, we have to take the very difficult decision to withdraw from the process.

“I know this will be very hard for the owners of the Blue Anchor Hotel but we really have no avenues left to explore. I hope to meet them personally to explain.”