UK - Norfolk residents who face being flooded by the sea blame 'penny-pinching' Environment Agency for failure to install better defences

• Homes along Norfolk coast between Heacham and Snettisham face upheaval
• Residents say they've been told Agency looking to re-direct money elsewhere

Static homes and chalets on a five-mile stretch of the unspoiled Norfolk coast are facing upheaval after the organisation said a man-made protective shingle bank was moving.

The situation has potentially reached a 'trigger point' at which the defensive structure would no longer be repaired and properties – some owned for decades – would have to be dragged inland.

But residents said they had already been told the agency was looking to direct money elsewhere – including protecting permanent homes set further back.

Judith Jackson, 79, who owns a two-bedroom bungalow in Heacham South Beach that has been in her family for five generations, said: 'They said they might not pay for it because they're more interested in protecting the land bank behind us – which protects the permanent homes.

'Whether it's jealousy or not, I don't know. The fear is that if nothing is done, we'll be flooded.

'We want them to keep doing the recharging [of the shingle bank]. We do contribute to the local economy. We've been here for five generations and we pay our taxes.'

Her husband Roy, 87, a retired stand-up comedian, said they came back year after year to stay between April and October for the 'big skies' and other attractions in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

'It's like living in a wildlife park. Yesterday we had a lonesome swan visit who came right up to the door,' he said.

'We have a deer who comes to the door and pheasants and partridges and a hare.'

David Bocking, 88, whose family have also owned a bungalow for generations in nearby Snettisham, accused the Environment Agency of failing to install more effective defences.

The former flood warden, who witnessed floods in the area in 1953, 1978 and 2013 and who sits on his parish council's flood committee, said: 'The shingle bank moves every day. I've told those silly old fools 'Listen to us – put up some groynes'.

'They've spent millions recharging the beach every year, picking up sand from Snettisham to Heacham. They have tractors and diggers and dumpers. It takes them two weeks or more to recharge it.

'They keep telling me groynes are unnecessary. They're wooden groynes and they go out into the sea and they would stop the shingle bank from moving as quickly.'

Linda Hoggett, who has owned a static home at Heacham for 12 years that's used as a retreat from their house in Peterborough, demanded: 'I would call on the Environment Agency to keep replenishing the beach, not to stop.

'They have got to keep an eye on things. We're not the only people here. There are hundreds and hundreds of caravans up here. I think it's a money thing.'

The retired NHS clerical worker added: 'It's just so beautiful here. The view is wonderful, even though there's nothing to look at. You can just sit here and it's mesmerising watching the tide come in and out.'

Husband James, 75, a retired engineer, branded the Agency's warning about the shingle bank possibly failing as 'vague'.

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