Emergency services were called to St Margaret's Bay after a massive chalk fall at the iconic White Cliffs.

Walkers on the beach raised the alarm and coastguards were joined by firefighters, police and a crew from Walmer Lifeboat Station to search the area.

At first it was thought people could have been trapped as a couple were believed to be strolling under the cliffs, but a spokesman for the coastguard station at Langdon Bay said nothing had been found.

Watch officer Mervyn Lewis said: "All the services - about 50 people - were working together to assess the area and there was also a search dog team.

"It could have been quite a serious incident. The alarm was raised about 1pm and the search was called off when it started to get dark."

Walkers in the area after the fall today (January 1) were given safety advice by the emergency surfaces.

A spokesman for Kent Fire Brigade said: "Allthough it appears that no one was injured, KFRS has taken the precaution of using its search and rescue dog to confirm that no one is trapped under the rock fall. The service's line rescue team from Deal have also been at the scene."

It has been estimated that a 30m square chunk of the cliffs collapsed. There have been similar incidents of chalk falls along the cliff edges at St Margaret's, caused by alternating freezing and thawing of water inside the cliff mass.