Pictures show years of risk-taking at Birling Gap cliff

We have been sent yet more pictures of people putting their lives in danger for the sake of a few moments perched precariously on the edge of the cliffs at Birling Gap and Beachy Head.

Whether it’s posing for a “perfect picture”, peering over the 200ft drop or impressing friends, there is no reason for taking this kind of risk on the crumbling rockface.

This week, a photograph showed a pair of legs hanging over the edge with several other visitors standing nearby also dangerously close to the drop.

This is not the first time during lockdown this has happened.

In May, as people sought to escape their homes after weeks cooped up inside, huge numbers headed to Birling Gap to enjoy the fresh air and sea breeze.

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Some could not resist the opportunity to creep ever closer to the precipice.

A young girl was seen peeking over the edge before being yanked away from the danger by a woman.

Then another woman standing on the cliff threw her arms aloft as she posed on the precipice, apparently for a picture.

She was later seen receiving cautionary words from coastguard crews patrolling in the area.

After this, a man was pictured clinging to a wall which had partly collapsed over the fast-eroding cliff, hanging over the edge as he made his way around it.

But the history of risk-taking – and taking up the valuable time of coastguard crews – goes back far further than this.

In August last year a group of visitors took it in turns to stretch their arms wide and lean over the cliff’s edge as others took pictures of them on their phones.

A while earlier, in May 2019, what appeared to be a newlywed couple embraced one another as a photographer snapped away. All the while, the pair were feet from the cliff’s edge.

A flick through our archives reveals similar articles from 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and so on.

Witnesses have repeatedly slammed the “sheer stupidity” and “immature” actions of those taking the risks, while coastguards have issued endless warnings about the danger of standing too close to the crumbling cliffs.

Yet, the incidents continue to happen.

Following the most recent batch of images, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has given a further warning to those considering a cliff-top photoshoot, saying that “no selfie is worth risking your life for”.

A spokeswoman for the service said: “We can’t stress enough how important it is to keep back from cliff edges,

“There is no ‘safe’ place to be and the cliffs along the UK coastline are continuously eroding.

“Use the designated paths, take notice of any warning signs, be responsible and don’t take any unnecessary risks.

“No selfie is worth risking your life for.

“As always, if you see anyone in trouble, call 999 and ask for the coastguard.”

In June 2017, a Korean student plunged 200ft to her death as she was having her picture taken at the top of the cliffs just east of Cuckmere Haven.

The 23-year-old had asked fellow visitors to the site to take her picture near the precipice and jumped upwards as she posed, hoping the camera would catch her in mid-air.

But, when she came back down to earth, only one of her feet landed on solid ground with the other going beyond the cliff’s edge.

She lost her balance and stumbled backwards, falling over the edge.

At her inquest, held four months later, coroner Alan Craze recorded her cause of death as misadventure.

“If people do things which put them in extreme and obvious danger, there is a limit to which they can be stopped,” he said.

“From a language point of view, there is a difference between accident and misadventure.

“In this particular case, the right conclusion is misadventure.”