Works to remove a Victorian sewer buried beneath the sand on West Bay's East Beach start today (Monday).

Natural coastal erosion at East Beach has started to expose the remains of a brick sewer, along with sheet piling and concrete debris, which will be removed by Wessex Water as part of improvement works.

These currently pose no environmental or safety risk and work is expected to take around four weeks. It has involved Dorset Council, the Jurassic Coast Trust, the Environment Agency and other bodies to help minimise any ecological impact.

The beach will remain accessible apart from the immediate working area, while a small section of East Beach car park will be cordoned off for use as a site compound.

Wessex Water's Christopher Tucker, who is co-ordinating the work, said: "West Bay is an important place both environmentally and as a place to be enjoyed by the public, particularly the local community.

"It is important to maintain the natural aesthetic of the beach while also ensuring that further erosion will not cause these redundant assets to become a hazard to beach-goers or wildlife.

"Our engineers will be using GPS technology to tag the locations of the infrastructure we need to remove. After excavation, we will ensure that the sand is replaced in a way that minimises any impact we've had."

Wessex Water has been granted a Marine Management Organisation licence and permission to work at a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by Natural England.

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