Warnings given about the Cobb at Lyme Regis following fatality

Warnings about the slippery surface on the Cobb at Lyme Regis have been given – after two recent falls from the structure, one a fatality.

Lyme Regis harbour consultative committee chair, Sally Holmam, gave the warning at Wednesday’s Dorset Council harbours consultative committee meeting in Dorchester.

Expressing her sympathies to the family of the man in his 70s who died on March 2 she warned that the surface, after repeated storms, remained “incredibly slippery.”

She told the committee that while the Cobb was washed down by harbour staff when they could it was not always possible to do the job as frequently as might be liked.

She said the fatal accident, in which the man’s wife was also injured, followed another incident with a man in his 30s, falling from the Cobb two weeks previously, his rescue carried out by quick thinking members of the public who threw him a life ring before coastguards successfully rescued him.

The harbours consultative chair said she understood that harbour staff were powerless to stop people walking on the structure and could only advise them against it when the conditions were less than ideal.

Harbours manager Ed Carter told the committee that he had a team working on the background to the fatality but was unable to tell the committee more at the moment – although a report would be forthcoming.

Both Dorset Police and the Health and Safety Executive have been informed.

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