A heartbroken mother fears her clifftop home will fall into the sea by Christmas after 8 meters of land was swept away in just a MONTH. Nicola Bayless’ three-bedroom semi in Happisburgh is now less than 15 meters from the cliff after storms Babet and Ciaran battered the Norfolk coast in the autumn. And she fears her family’s £375,000 estate will be gone by the end of December, with the village teetering on the brink. Nicola, 48, said: “We haven’t even reached winter yet but because we have lost so much we could be forced to leave in the spring or even before Christmas. It’s scary.” Her late parents, Anita and Arthur Richmond, originally bought Beacon House in 2001 when it was more than 200 meters from the cliff’s edge. They knew the property, which stood among houses on Beach Road, would not last forever as the government decided not to upgrade the local sea wall. But since then the sea has eroded huge swaths of the “cream cheese”-like coastline, forcing dozens of locals to abandon their luxury properties. And Nicola, who moved into the property seven years ago, now fears her ‘worthless’ home will be uninhabitable within months. The nurse said: “It’s heartbreaking and scary if you let it take over your mind, it can make you mentally depressed. ‘I don’t choose to look elsewhere. it’s something I’m forced to do. I would stay here forever, but I’m not going to put myself in danger. “After Babet there was four meters gone. Then it was another two meters after Ciarán. But since then even more has gone. So you’re talking about a month of seven to eight meters. “We used to have Christmas light competitions with our neighbors – how many lights you could get on your house. It looked like Las Vegas at the end of the road. “It makes you sad that village life is also disappearing.” Nicola said she had holidayed with her parents in the idyllic Happisburgh area, famous for its red and white striped lighthouses, in the 80s and 90s. And on one of these memorable trips they ‘fell in love’ with Beacon House, where they went. bought over 20 years ago for £76,000. Mum-of-two Nicola said her parents gave her the house in 2016 when she started a family, moving into her nearby terraced house and later into a bungalow. And they had believed the property, with a huge 50-metre backyard and an outbuilding, would later be passed on to their grandchildren. But Nicola said the couple would be shocked to see the devastating land loss that has taken place in the five years since their She said: “My parents had said, ‘It will help you get out, it will help your children get out. ‘ “The research showed that they still had 150 years before the cliff would reach the house. That was very believable because of where it was. But they’ve only been away for five years and in that time you wouldn’t believe it.” “I think they would be very shocked if they ever came back and saw all this because it’s just crazy, absolutely crazy. It’s climate change and the weather getting worse, and things like that. That’s all I can do.” put it down.” Nicola remembers how specific storms devastated the coastline near her property – and has used a tape measure to track the erosion after each big swell. But the recent storms Babet and Ciarán, which came in quick succession between October 18 and November 4, brought some of the worst landslides in recent history. She said: “We had ‘Beast From the East’ in 2012. That was quite scary. You could even see the sea coming over the cliff. “When we had Babet and Ciarán, it was the rain that was worse. He just tipped it over and flowed over the edge of the road. “One moment there was about a foot of asphalt hanging off. The next minute, two meters were hanging off. “About three hours later I went down and the cliff had come loose from underneath. The next day it was all gone. It was crazy. She added: “I felt a really loud bang on Thursday evening [Nov 23], it sounded like a big clap of thunder. I’m sure this was part of falling off the cliff. “It actually looks like cream cheese here. It just seems to disappear because it’s just clay and soil, there are no rocks. It just feels like it’s being cut away.” Nicola said her council told her she was now their “first priority” to move after storms took away even more of the coastline last weekend. But she is aware that the money she could get for the move won’t be anywhere near the actual value of the property if it were on firmer ground. She said: “A property of my size with a garden and outbuilding – it would probably cost £375,000 or more if it were somewhere else. So I’m not going to get that. “[The cliff] is now less than 15 meters away from the house. The local authorities are talking to us, preparing us and going to help. “But I don’t know how much they’re going to help financially. They’re keeping their cards close to their chest, which is fair enough because you can’t promise something you can’t deliver. But they’re very closed-minded about that.” people who went in 2012, it was barely anything towards the cost of their home. ‘Some were placed in council accommodation and paid rent, and others bought a whole lot smaller. Nicola said it was particularly difficult to keep the house because it was the place where her late husband Steve died of heart failure at the age of 42. And she also had to face the fact that her children would never be able to return home in their later years. She said: “Losing your home is just another grieving process. “One of my children was born here and has come a long way in that time. “It’s just absolutely crazy that they can stand on the beach and say, ‘This is where my house was.’ It’s actually quite surreal.” Rob Goodliffe, a coastal transition manager for North Norfolk District Council, said his team was working with Nicola to find “solutions” and provide support. He said: “We recently met with Nicola and other residents at imminent risk of erosion in Happisburgh to explore their situation and what form of support can help them. “We are working hard to help them find solutions and provide them with support. “We are very grateful to be in the position we are with the Coastwise program, which will allow us to work with communities work together to explore options for the future to prepare for coastal changes and take practical actions. “However, through this program we are unable to provide compensation for the loss of homes, which has long been the position of successive governments. “The Council is empathetic and sympathetic to Nicola, the other residents and the affected communities along our coast and we look forward to working with them to help the transition to coastal change.”