‘One day, something like this will happen when the beach is crowded.’

Walkers and fossil hunters should take extra care at the coast as another cliff fall has prompted fears the area is unstable.

These photos were taken at Charmouth and the slide is likely the result of heavy downpours as a result of recent storms.

Charmouth resident Michele Danks captured the photo early on Thursday morning while walking her dog.

“The slide had occurred overnight,” said Michele. “The entire area is unstable and the cracks in the cliff widen weekly.

“I don’t even walk the dogs as close as people appear happy to walk their children. I have seen smaller slips happen, never anything this large.”

Michele says that while on this occasion the fall took place overnight, ‘one day something like this will happen when the beach is crowded.’

Michele added: “I don’t understand why people have a need to hammer away at the cliff base when most of the fossils can be picked up from the stones and sand. It’s all about luck anyway. One person sees something that many have stepped over.”

Charmouth Heritage Centre says it’s ‘never safe to go on the beach straight away’ when there has been a fall. This is because the rock will have moved and could be dislodged.

“We would advise people to stay away from the area immediately after a fall and always seek advice before going out,” the centre advises.

In June, Charmouth couple Judy and Michael Haines said they ‘could definitely have been victims ‘ after part of a cliff collapsed onto the beach in front of them without warning. They were walking their dog at Stonebarrow, keeping an eye-out for fossils, when the cliff collapsed suddenly - just 10 metres in front of them. They said the near-miss made them want to avoid walking in the same spot in future.

They said: “There was no warning at all, it sounded just like a lorry load of stones being dumped. The loosening material is so low that there would not be enough time to move away - even if you heard the warning noise immediately.”