Fears chalet from iconic ITV drama could collapse off steep cliff into the sea

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A famous chalet that featured in ITV crime drama Broadchurch is edging closer to tumbling off the edge of a cliff.

The cottage at Eype, near West Bay in Dorset, is just 15ft away from a steep 140ft drop into the sea.

The cliffs of Dorset became synonymous with Broadchurch, which starred David Tennant as DI Hardy and Olivia Colman as DS Miller, during the three seasons of the ITV programme.

And the season one plot of the murder of Danny Latimer took place in the same location which is now disastrously close to its end.

In 2016, it was claimed the family who owned the property were keen to demolish the structure and replicate it 100m inland because of fears it would collapse in the sea, amid ongoing cliff erosion.

And it appears to be coming true, as aerial images of the cliffside show how close the chalet is to the edge.

The famous chalet starred in Broadchurch season one (Picture: ITV)

The cottage stands just 15ft from the edge (Picture: Graham Hunt/BNPS)

The natural cliffs along the UNESCO World Heritage Jurassic Coast are more than 180million years old, but are losing huge chunks of rock due to being battered from bad weather and the sea crashing into it.

In recent years, the edge of the cliffs have moved closer and closer to the chalet, with the land on which Colman and Tennant once filmed on now turned into rocks collapsing.

The road leading up to the property is also teetering dangerously close to the edge.

Local landowners, the Winfield-Digbys, who have owned the cabin since 1930, have been trying for nearly a decade to relocate it further inland, but reportedly failed to gain permission to do so as their proposal angered holiday homeowners, who claimed the new location would conceal the scenery.

It resides along the Jurassic Coast in Dorset (Picture: BNPS)

The cottage was the location of Danny Latimer’s murder (Picture: Graham Hunt/BNPS)

Local photographer Graham Hunt said, according to MailOnline: ‘It has been getting closer and closer to the cliff over the years and with one big landslip the chalet could fall into the sea.

‘There have been so much storms over the winter which have eroded away the cliffs making them unstable.

‘Foundations were built for the chalet in a car park three or four years ago but they have been covered up again.

‘I believe the chalet was re-roofed a couple of years go so it doesn’t look like any relocation is happening soon.’

Olivia Colman starred as D.S. Ellie Miller and David Tennant as D.I Alec Hardy in Broadchurch (Picture: Rex)

The chalet was where the drama of season one Broadchurch kicked off, with the murder mystery revolving around the crime that took place inside when an 11-year-old boy was killed and the police begin their search to find out who did it.

The ITV drama aired between 2013 and 2017, for three seasons, and also starred the likes of  Jodie Whittaker and Pauline Quirke.

Broadchurch’s first series was nominated for seven Bafta Awards, with The Crown star Colman picking up best actress and the show bagging best drama series.

Broadchurch is available to watch on ITVX.

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