Beachgoers were shocked to witness three people jumping off a cliff as part of a dangerous extreme sport. 


West Bay Coastguard was paged by Solent Coastguard National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) shortly before 12.30pm on Sunday to reports of three BASE jumpers jumping from East Cliff, West Bay, onto the crowded beach below.


BASE jumping - named as such because of the four categories of exit points; building, antenna, span and earth - involves jumping from a man-made structure or natural geographical feature and then deploying a wing suit or parachute to descend to the ground.


Due to the lower altitudes of the jumps, the sport is considered more dangerous than skydiving. As East Cliff is only 150ft high, only allows a small margin of error when deploying a parachute. 


According to the coastguard, members of the public made multiple calls to both them and Dorset Police over the safety of both the jumpers and the people on the beach below. 


Falling debris and rocks were also reported as the jumpers launched from the edge.


Police, along with five rescue officers from the West Bay rescue team, responded and carried out a search for the jumpers but witnesses reported that after they had jumped, they quickly gathered their equipment and left the area before emergency services arrived.


Jake Lanning, West Bay rescue officer, said: "BASE jumping is not illegal but there can be associated offences involved and, in this instance, there were safety concerns for the jumpers launching from such a low altitude and the safety of the beachgoers below and the state of the cliffs.

"We were massively concerned about the safety of people on the beach. We believe there was debris coming off the cliff and it was a very busy beach. We were also concerned about the safety of the jumpers; it was a low altitude jump and there was a great chance the parachute wouldn't open on time. 


"We want to thank everyone who called in and hope the sight of someone jumping from the cliffs was not too much of a shock."