BEACHGOERS caught the dramatic moment a man jumped from the cliffs as part of a dangerous extreme sport.

Caroline Walters from Bridport captured the shocking moment a BASE jumper plunged from the cliff top at East Cliff, West Bay while she was walking her three dogs just after 12.20pm on Friday. 

BASE jumping involves parachuting or wingsuit flying from a fixed structure or cliff.

“We were walking along the beach and we could see he was very close to the cliff edge. I thought ‘oh my god this person is going to jump’ but my husband could see he was wearing a parachute.

“The beach was almost deserted apart from a few dog walkers.

“I got my phone out but I never thought I’d catch it in time – it was quite spectacular,” Mrs Walters said. 

She added after the man landed he packed away his parachute and carried on walking down the beach. 

‘BASE’ is an acronym for four categories of fixed objects a person can jump from – building, antenna, span or earth (cliff).

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

“He obviously knew what he was doing but from where I was standing it did look like he was very close to the rocks,” Mrs Walters said. 

“I’ve just got back from white-water rafting in Costa Rica so I can understand the thrill of doing something extreme and why he did it.”

Mrs Walters said shortly after the man jumped police officers and coastguard arrived. 

A spokesperson for West Bay Coastguard Rescue Team said: “At 12.22pm, the team responded to East Cliff, West Bay following reports of a ‘concern for welfare’ for a member of the public that turned out to be a BASE jumper deploying from the edge of the cliff onto the beach below.

“BASE jumping itself is not illegal in this country but there can be associated offences involved including trespassing on private property to achieve the jump and these matters are dealt with by the police.

“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.”

This was the second incident of BASE jumping at East Cliff this year as back in June, police and coastguard teams were called to the beach after three thrill-seekers launched themselves from the cliffs. 

A spokesperson from Dorset Police said the man was given words of advice by officers about the dangers of BASE jumping.