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Walcott: Clean-up operation after village hit by sand storm

Walcott was hit by the storm over the weekend

A clean-up operation is under way after a seaside village became covered in sand blown off a beach in high winds.

Cars, gardens and roads in Walcott, Norfolk, were left concealed by the storm on Friday and Saturday.

People living there said they had "never seen it like this before".

North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) recently pumped 1.8 million cubic metres of sand on Bacton and Walcott beaches as part of a coastal management scheme.

The council said a clean-up operation started immediately and the authority's leader and coastal manager visited the village to speak to residents and assess damage to properties.

Alison Cavanagh Sand storm at Walcott, NorfolkAlison Cavanagh
The sand spread across the road and on to the pavements

Jay Durrant said he could not believe it when he woke up to "loads of sand" covering the car he had wanted to sell.

"I don't think anyone will want to buy it now," he said.

Mr Durrant said it will take a couple of days or a week "to get rid of the sand and mess".

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His father Richard said after the £22m sandscaping project, "this may be something we have to cope with from time to time".

About 1,400 homes were flooded in Walcott in 2013 in what was described as the worst storm surge for 60 years.

Sand storm at Walcott, Norfolk
Jay Durrant said he had been trying to sell his car before it was coated in sand

As a result, the "sandscaping" scheme was adopted by NNDC to protect the coast from erosion in the event of major storm surges in the future.

Caroline Stubbs, landlady at the Poacher's Pocket, said the sand was "lesser of the two evils".

"I think we would've been flooded if we didn't have the sand but it's just a big clear-up job," she said.

Sand storm at Walcott, Norfolk
Colin Pealing said his garden was "destroyed"

But Colin Pealing was not convinced his property would have got flooded and instead was counting the cost of damage caused to his prized garden.

"It's destroyed the soil, we will have to start again," he said.

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Elsewhere, Norfolk Wildlife Trust closed many of its sites due to the strong winds, including the nature reserves at Hickling Broad and Booton Common.

Blakeney Harbour Association (BHA) said on Twitter the storm caused "considerable damage" to boats throughout the harbour.

Wroxham was also affected by the weekend's weather.

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