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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Sean McPolin

Inside popular seaside resort now a ghost town with abandoned homes falling into sea

A former seaside tourist hotspot which saw families from around the country travel to it is now being described as a ghost town.

Once a popular destination for many to visit, Skipsea in East Yorkshire, is now filled with abandoned homes and shacks which are falling into the sea.

Devastating erosion at the seaside location means buildings are running the risk of falling onto the crashing waves along the North Sea coast, Yorkshire Live reports.

Rows of homes have been left swaying on the crumbling cliffs and residents have been left worrying about the future of the properties.

Jimmy Mac, who live there with his partner Megan Shaw, said: "Look what we're losing. It's beautiful, isn't it?

"It's a dream home. It's just a shame. I don't want to move from this house.

The seaside town was once a popular destination for families, but now they are being warned not to come to the site (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

"But I don’t know if I’m going to wake up with the sea in my bed."

The tiny village has even erected signs telling visitors to beware and stay away.

One reads: "Danger. Do not proceed."

Along the seaside front lay a battered arcade which has smashed-in windows and graffiti-covered walls, just a couple feet from the drop into the water.

Opposite that is an old, derelict and abandoned fish and chip shop and the town's only sign of life is at Skipsea Sands Holiday Park nearby.

Statistics from 2021 shows just 678 people live in the coastal town (Katie Pugh)

The caravan and camping site remains open to tourists but its Tripadvisor reviews are becoming less frequent and more negative.

In 2022, it came under criticism for its "tired" appearance and alleged rat infestation.

YorkshireLive reporter Megan Banner, who visited the location this month, said: "It just lies rejected and unloved.

The location has been described as "unloved and rejected" (Tom Maddick SWNS)

"I saw around two people during my whole visit - nothing in comparison to Filey and Bridlington just up the coast.

"It's exactly what I imagined an 80s caravan holiday to be like, exactly like my parents and grandparents would describe, just nothing has changed or modernised since then - it was just left to rot.

"It's like people here are just waiting for their indefinite fate."

The village could lose 24 homes due the coastal erosion (Tom Maddick SWNS)

Statistics from 2021 shows just 678 people, the majority of who are over 60, lived in the seaside town.

Millions of pounds is being pumped into saving the small coastal community, but it may not be enough.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the £36million, split between East Riding of Yorkshire Council and North Norfolk District Council, would help locals to "prepare and plan" for the worst.

A cliff road in Skipsea, East Yorkshire, which has nearly completely washed away (PA)

A spokesman said: "These two locations are already living with the challenges of coastal erosion and between them include 84 per cent of the properties at risk of coastal erosion in England over the next 20 years."

In June last year James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency, added: "While we can come back safely after most river flooding, there's no coming back for land that coastal erosion has taken away or which a rising sea level has put permanently or frequently under water.

"Which means that in some places the right answer will have to be to move communities away from danger."

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