A coastal road that was hit by three named storms has been destroyed after another downpour.
Part of the A379 in Devon, connecting the villages of Torcross and Slapton, near Dartmouth, broke apart overnight, with its sea defences destroyed in January’s three named storms – Goretti, Ingrid and Chandra.
The storms all brought heavy rain to many areas of the UK, particularly the South West, leading to flooding and widespread travel disruption.
Read more: Rain alerts for southwest in already flood-hit areas
Images from the scene show that sections of the road, and a public car park, have disappeared into the sea.
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Devon County Council has warned that the damage to the A379 could cost “tens of millions of pounds” to repair, while Liberal Democrat MP Caroline Voaden said: “This is the news we’ve all been dreading.”
Ms Voaden, the MP for South Devon, who was at Westminster to urge the government to provide more funding for roads on Tuesday, said earlier: “One of my team is on the ground now, and said the force of the waves is shaking the road. It’s terrifying.”
She also said: “Protection measures are needed, but government support is simply not there.
“Billions have been dedicated to Northern Powerhouse Rail, while our coastal communities are left defenceless to our changing climate.”
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Devon County Council leader Julian Brazil, also at Westminster, said in a statement: “It’s devastating for the local community, and our priority is the families whose lives and livelihoods are directly affected by this.
“The route is not looking good, and we’re likely to be looking at tens of millions of pounds to repair it. The county can’t afford to rebuild the road, and we’re desperately looking for help from government.”
The road was previously washed away during Storm Emma in March 2018 – also called the Beast from the East – and reopened later that year after extensive repairs.
