EMERGENCY repairs are being carried out after crashing waves created a sinkhole "the size of a delivery van" on a Dunbar coastal road.
Lamer Street, near the town’s East Beach, has been closed after part of the road collapsed following stormy weather over the weekend.
Pippa Swan, chairwoman of Dunbar Community Council, was relieved that no one had been injured as the road was damaged.
She said: “I’m just very, very glad when it collapsed that nobody was there.
“Nobody was parking there, nobody was on that road – it is just freakily fortunate.”
East Lothian Council closed the road on Monday evening and workmen were on site the following day as repairs were carried out.
Swan, who lives near the coastal street, described the damage as “absolutely shocking”.
She said: “There is a hole the size of a delivery van.
“There is a relatively small hole in the seawall but it has soaked all the road behind it.
“The road is closed at both ends and there are men down the hole.
“The main gas pipe is due to be shut off any minute now.
“There were no obvious signs of the seawall having been breached after Storm Babet but the wind direction has changed in the last few days.”
Protection works to the Lamer Street seawall were carried out in 2020, with the introduction of a breakwater, the existing groyne refurbished and rock armour put in place.
That came as the community council was at the heart of a bid to rejuvenate the East Beach, which had previously been a tourist magnet.
The golden sand had disappeared but work had been carried out to return to the popular stretch to its former glory.
However, Swan revealed on Tuesday that sand at the beach had been washed away due to the poor weather.
The community councillor revealed that discussions had taken place with East Lothian Council with a view to further work being carried out to protect the area.
However, she estimated that a breakwater could cost about £500,000, with a larger project facing a potential expense of up to £9 million.
She acknowledged that East Lothian Council did not have those funds and the Scottish Government was unlikely to be in a position to allocate such a sum.
She added: “What it shows me is we do actually need to get back round the table PDQ to have a conversation about getting those additional breakwaters in.
“It has to be an absolute priority for towns which are going to be impacted by storms.
“It is not just Dunbar but North Berwick has been affected.”
A spokesperson for the local authority confirmed that work was ongoing.
They said: "East Lothian Council closed the road yesterday evening.
"We have prioritised repairs to the sea wall toward the old harbour – the defects here are much nearer to residential properties.
"We will give a further update in due course."
