The three main parties have given their views on tackling the problems of coastal erosion along the Norfolk and Suffolk coast.

Last year, proposals to protect the port of Felixstowe and other major towns were put forward by the Environment Agency.

However, Suffolk could still lose the village of Covehithe and 1,000 acres (400 hectares) of farmland as part of a “managed retreat”.

In the Norfolk village of Happisburgh a coastguard station is under threat as the cliff edge it is located near has eroded by 20ft (6.1m) in a decade.

‘More research’

Last year, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs offered the local councils £3m for trial initiatives such as buying homes, threatened by coastal erosion, from residents.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said that if his party won power it “certainly would” put more funding into researching coastal erosion.

He said he was shocked to see homes where “back gardens were quite literally falling into the sea”, during a recent visit to Happisburgh.

He said the Environment Agency report had caused a “huge amount of concern” as it “more or less seemed to write off parts of the Norfolk coast”.

“We will not give up on the people of Happisburgh and other areas of the Norfolk coast,” Mr Clegg said on the visit to Norwich.

Speaking on a visit to Norfolk, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said investing in flood defences and providing funding to help communities cope with the consequences of coastal erosion were part of the government’s strategy to tackle the problem.

‘Serious concern’

He said “quite a lot” of money had come to East Anglia through the government’s coastal change Pathfinder project, adding: “In the end local people are in the best position to decide how we adapt to the power of the sea and the changing coast line.”

He added: “We’re doing our best to respond to the power of nature but it’s something we’ve got to work on together with local councils and local communities.”

A Conservative Party spokesman said that coastal erosion was “a very serious concern” for coastal communities and that climate change was expected to bring a rise in sea levels.

“We need to defend our communities wherever we can, give local communities greater powers to find local solutions to coastal defences, and ensure that the Environment Agency takes greater account of local knowledge in their decision making,” he said.

The spokesman added that a Conservative government would negotiate with insurance companies to ensure that flood insurance is available to as many householders and property owners as possible.

Story on the BBC News Website