SEVERE damage caused when foul weather smashed through Ministry of Defence work at Oldstairs Bay at Kingsdown, near Deal, has been repaired with more than 10,000 tonnes of boulders. The project has cost more than £1 million.

The coastal defence scheme's completion was marked by Jim Park, head of flood management at the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, at a celebration launch. It was back in the 1970s that the MoD put together a protective barrier at the former Royal Marines Rifle Range. But by early 1996 it had been breached, leaving people and property at risk.

Steel sheet defences were deemed a danger in themselves to the public and were removed by the MOD in 1998 which accelerated the erosion to a critical point. An emergency measure of 3,500 tonnes of rock from the Mendips was used last winter as a holding measure on the beach.

This summer, starting on July 30, Raymond Brown Construction Ltd began the vital coast defence which was finished last month. It mean shipping 8,500 tonnes of boulders from a quarry outside Boulogne and installing three timber groynes, concrete steps and a timber splash wall with 10,000 tonnes of shingle to replenish the beach.

Roger Walton, Dover District Council's engineering manager, said: "The forces of nature destroyed the old defences but the new one should last at least 50 years.

"It means that property adjacent to the site is safe and will not be at direct risk, this is an active coast line so we need to keep maintaining the defence."

Among those attending the event to celebrate success were Cllr Peter Wells, Leader of Dover District Council, John Moir, Chief Executive, and representatives of consulting engineers, WS Atkins, Raymond Brown, parish councils, The Environment agency, English Nature and Defra.