There has been a spate of cliff falls along the coast between Dover and Folkestone.

As a result of severe wet weather over the last few months there have reportedly been seven cliff falls which have seen large amounts of crumbly rock falling to the shore.

Walkers used to be able to stroll along the beach but are now forced to scramble over chalk and earth which has fallen down - and large cracks have formed in the rock above.

There are also huge chunks of cliff on the concrete apron beneath Capel-le-Ferne.

Steve Walker, a ranger for the White Cliffs Countryside Partnership at Samphire Hoe said: "All the rain that we've been having gets into the cliff and causes these rock falls.

"Its so very dangerous - even now we can see cracks at the top of the cliffs there.

"Parts of it are very crumbly, and we are still getting cracks.

"There's one over the ranger's office and they seem to think that's the next one to fall, if it does come down that's seven tonnes of rock and its right above the railway."

Mr Walker said the latest rock fall narrowly missed Samphire Hoe and the railway line but he is unsure whether they will be so lucky next time.

He added: "They have protection on the railway line if there's a rock fall but with all the rain we're having the rock keeps cracking."

National Rail spokesman Chris Denham said: "There are several different measures in place to protect the railway all the way from Folkestone through the Warren and Samphire Hoe to Dover.

"The one most people are familiar with is the wire that runs along the railway boundary on the cliff side of the line.

"Should any pressure be put on the wire by a falling rock, the signals snap to red and we send a rapid response team out to have a look.

"Regular passengers will know this happens occasionally with insignificant rock falls.

"However it is tough enough not to get set off by a bird landing on it.

"Additionally, we have a geo-technical monitoring system in place of the cliff to measure long term trends and anticipate any future problems."

Visitors, residents and walkers are advised to take great care when walking underneath the cliffs.

Read the full report in this week's Mercury, out now.