Devastating new video has captured a £195,000 home belonging to a mother-of-five as it hangs over a 70ft cliff edge following a dramatic landslide which destroyed half the property.
Mother-of-five Emma Tullett, 42, had purchased her two-bedroom bungalow in August 2018, less than two years before the home in Eastchurch, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, plunged off a cliff this weekend.
Her orange Seat Ibiza car also crashed to the ground after the family heard a deafening ‘crackling and crunching’ at 9pm on Saturday. All that remains of the home is the living room, a bedroom, kitchen and the hallway.
New video from the aftermath of the disaster captures the remaining parts of the home dangling precariously over the clifftop, with a door seen elevated in mid-air above the foundation.
On the ground below, gates, fences and furniture are strewn beneath the cliff, with Ms Tullett’s car covered in dust and murky water which has gathered in the wreckage.
In one moment, more household objects tumble from the bottom of the home, crashing into the water and rolling to a stop in the waterlogged rubble below.
Mother-of-five Emma Tullett, 42, had only purchased her two-bedroom bungalow in August 2018, when the home (pictured, the aftermath today) in Eastchurch, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, plunged off a cliff this weekend
New video from the aftermath of the disaster (pictured) captures the remaining parts of the home dangling precariously over the clifftop, with a door seen elevated in mid-air above the foundation
Ms Tullett’s neighbour, Ed Cane, today described how he fears his property could be next – as it sits just yards from the perilous drop.
The 67-year-old has been forced to move into a caravan in his back garden after being warned the home he spent thousands on renovating would be next to go.
He said: ‘We were woken up at around 10.30pm on Friday night by the police and told to get out because it had started to go.
‘So myself, my sister and the dog Daisy parked the car up the top and slept there for the night. We were never told about this rescue centre.
‘When we came back on Saturday I knew something was missing. The telegraph pole and cables had all gone. I phoned the electrics and BT to sort them out as they were dropping like flies and it was going to concertina the rest of them.’
Photographs from today show debris from the houses collapsed to the ground after a landslide this weekend devastated the street
Large cracks are seen on the cliffside after the landslide yesterday destroyed a mother-of-five’s £195,000 home, which she shared with her partner and children
Drone photographs from Sunday show the extent of the eroded cliff collapse in Eastchurch, Kent. Emergency services along with Kent search and rescue remained at the scene
The pair then returned to their home on Saturday night, but woke to discover their gates had disappeared from view.
Mother-of-five Emma Tullett, 42, (left) told how she ‘lost everything’ after a cliff collapsed sending her dream home plunging over the edge. The house (right) is now left dangerously teetering over the cliff edge. Her car can be seen amid debris on the cliff below
‘I got out of bed at about 4am on Sunday and looked out the window,’ Mr Cane said. ‘I thought something looked different and wondered where the post and gates had gone.
‘I couldn’t believe it. The second hit was devastating. They’re saying it might be a sinkhole.’
He added: ‘The first night they were saying you need to get out as it could kill you but now there’s not a soul down here. It’s not safe.
‘Everybody is angry and I’m at the stage now where I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to move out as this is the house I was planning on dying in. I’ve done it up and spent all my money on it.’
Ms Tullett, whose home is now worthless after the cliff collapsed this weekend, had lived in the property with her partner and four of her children aged six, seven, 15 and 17.
She explained she had been watching TV with a glass of wine when the blinds fell from the wall, and suddenly she heard ‘this cracking and crunching and then you could tell the cliffs were gone.’
Her teenage children lived in an annex off the main property, which was the first of the at-risk houses to fall.
She added: ‘We grabbed the kids and the teenagers from the annex and just said get whatever you can. Today, half of our house fell off the cliff. All that’s left is the living room, a bedroom, kitchen and the hallway.
‘It’s absolutely heartbreaking – we’ve lost everything. This was my dream home which I paid for in cash. We were told we’d have about 40 years living here, but we’ve not even had two.
The property in Eastchurch, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, plunged off the cliff, along with her orange Seat Ibiza car. All that’s left is the living room, a bedroom, kitchen and the hallway
Co-op assistant manager Ms Tullett told MailOnline on Sunday: ‘I was sitting there watching TV with a glass of wine and then the blinds fell off the wall. Everything happened really quickly’
‘I heard this crackling and crunching and then you could tell the cliffs were gone. I think the cracks must’ve been getting bigger over a few days,’ she said
Locals say the collapse, pictured above, is due to the dry weather. Ms Tullett’s teenage children lived in an annex off the main property, which was the first of the at-risk houses to fall
Shocking images show the house on the edge of the cliff in Eastchurch after the soft ground crumbled forcing families to evacuate. Her car can be seen on a lower ledge after it fell off
‘We can get a new house, a new car – but it’s things like baby photos of my children that will all be at the bottom of the cliff now.
‘It’s the sentimental things that I can’t get back that make this even worse.’
Ms Tullett noticed a nine-inch crack in her front garden on Friday and she contacted the Environment Agency.
Shortly after 9pm she heard ‘crunching’ and the blinds in her living room fell off the wall.
Ms Tullett grabbed her children and the family left the house with just their phones, chargers and the clothes on their backs.
They were evacuated to a local community centre and are now in temporary accommodation in Sittingbourne.
Shocking pictures show the family’s car sunk in a pool of water (left) after cliff erosion caused the house to fall almost-entirely off the edge
Pictures from yesterday show just how rapidly the cliff crumbled into the sea below. The house had to be evacuated along with four of her five children
Firefighters were called in to evacuate 20 homes overnight after the ‘significant collapse’.
Three more houses have since been dubbed at risk of falling into the sea as a result of the cliff collapse.
They have also been evacuated by emergency services on Sunday along with a couple of houses in a cul de sac behind them.
Fire crews using a drone and specialist Coastguard cliff rescue teams have scoured the collapsed rubble and soil in case people were underneath.
But it is not thought there were any casualties.
A multi-agency response has been mounted to deal with the crisis. The area at risk was sealed off yesterday.
Co-op assistant manager Ms Tullett said on Sunday: ‘I was sitting there watching TV with a glass of wine and then the blinds fell off the wall. Everything happened really quickly.’ The family evacuated their home on Friday
Firefighters were called in to evacuate 20 homes overnight after a ‘significant collapse’ of the cliffs by the houses
Ms Tullett grabbed her children and the family left the house with just their phones, chargers and the clothes on their backs. Pictured: The scene after emergency services cordoned off the area on Sunday
Ms Tullett’s property in Eastchurch, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, plunged off the cliff this weekend, along with her orange Seat Ibiza car. Pictured: Police closed off the road in the area
Since Ms Tullett’s house fell, three more properties have been dubbed at risk of falling into the sea as a result of the cliff collapse. Pictured: Emergency services are at the scene on Sunday
A multi-agency response has been mounted to deal with the crisis. The area at risk was sealed off on Sunday (pictured)
The erosion of the cliffs in Eastchurch was so severe that safety barriers were pulled down as they stood on the crumbling soil
Fire crews using a drone and specialist Coastguard cliff rescue teams have scoured the collapsed rubble and soil in case people were underneath. Pictured: The scene in Eastchurch on Sunday
Teams from Kent Police, Kent Fire & Rescue Service, coastguard, Swale Borough Council, Southern Water, UK Power and the Environment Agency as well as Eastchurch Parish Council are at the scene in the idyllic community. Pictured: Emergency services
It is not known at this stage if there could be any further collapse although police chiefs say there is a ‘significant risk’ (picture taken yesterday)
But it is not known at this stage if there could be any further collapse although police chiefs say there is a ‘significant risk’.
Teams from Kent Police, Kent Fire & Rescue Service, coastguard, Swale Borough Council, Southern Water, UK Power and the Environment Agency as well as Eastchurch Parish Council are at the scene in the idyllic community of Eastchurch Gap.
Malcolm Newell, 70, a local parish councillor, owns two houses that were evacuated – including his own where he has lived since retiring as a wood turner in 2001.
He said that the parish council has been battling to get the cliffs secured for years.
The coastline is a designated as a Site of Scientific Interest (SSI).
Mr Newell and others set up the Eastchurch Gap Cliff Erosion Community Group to try and get action done.
He said: ‘I own two properties which have been evacuated. I was able to grab a few things and get out.
‘It’s the waiting game. We just don’t know what will happen. We have been trying to get the authorities to do something about the cliffs for years.
The surrounding area was yesterday closed by local authorities, with footpaths now blocked off and large parts of the beach below inaccessible
A Google map view from before the cliff collapsed shows how close the residential area, known as Surf Cresent, sits to the sea below
‘When we first moved here there was a lovely beach and a slope down to the sea.
‘But over the years it’s eroded until now there is a sheer cliff.
‘We wanted to get a mesh put in on the slope and encourage flowers and other plants to grow there to strengthen the soil.
‘But it took a year for Swale Borough Council to make a decision and by then it was too late.
‘We want compensation from someone for all of this. We have lost everything.
‘Poor Emma and her family have had their entire home go into the sea.
‘As a community we have rallied round to help her with bedding, food et cetera.’