A large section of the White Cliffs of Dover has collapsed.

Thousands of tonnes of chalk have fallen into the sea near Samphire Hoe in two separate falls.

Footage from ITV

This is just the third time a collapse of this magnitude has been recorded on the cliffs in almost 20 years.

In 2012, a massive collapse brought both residents and tourists to the cliff edge to survey the damage.

The situation lead to the Coastguard issuing a warning as people were sitting on top of an overhang caused by the subsidence that was at risk of falling.

Back in 2001, a section of the cliff as large as a football field collapsed into the sea.

Today's footage shows onlookers gasping as a section of the cliff collapses into the English Channel.

However, just 10 seconds later, a second, far larger section falls from higher up, crashing into the water.

A spokesman for Getlink, which owns the Samphire Hoe and the nearby Eurotunnel terminal, said: "It looks as if it was filmed from the sea wall at the Hoe, but the part of the cliff which has fallen into the sea isn’t actually part of the Hoe itself, so has had no impact."

Read more: All the latest news from Dover