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Parents' 'horrendous' clifftop act slammed by police

Coastguard teams were called out over the weekend after a UK family broke Covid-19 lockdown to camp on the edge of a cliff.

The Staithes and Whitby Coastguard Rescue teams were called to a section of Cleveland Way in Whitby after the family’s tent was spotted.

“Safety advice was given from Coastguard Rescue Officers due to the dangerous location of their tent, especially with recent landslips,” the Staithes Coastguard said on Facebook, adding they found two adults and a child inside.

An aerial view of a tent pitched on the edge of a cliff in the United Kingdom during coronavirus lockdown.
Coastguard teams were called out over the weekend after a UK family broke Covid-19 lockdown to camp on the edge of a cliff. Source: Staithes Coastguard/Alastair Smith

British media are reporting the three were parents and their child.

The service also posted images of the tent within a metre of the cliff’s edge.

A police officer also talked to the family regarding their Covid-19 lockdown breach as the country battles its new highly-infectious variant.

In January, a cliff gave way in Happisburgh after heavy rainfall and warnings were issued to locals.

The latest pictures of the family’s tent caused quite a stir online, with hundreds of people slamming the parents.

“Horrendous! The child must have been petrified camping so close to that edge. They need to be severely punished for this!” a woman wrote on Facebook.

The tent set up just a metre from the cliff's edge in Whitby.
The group posted images of the tent within a metre of the cliff’s edge. Source: Staithes Coastguard/Alastair Smith

“Why on earth would you park on a cliff edge in a tent. Wouldn't your own brain tell you ‘alarm’ you put lives at risk,” another said.

“I can't believe the level of stupidity here, even if you have never been to the coast before you surely can't think that's a good place to pitch a tent! I feel sick to think there was a child in there too,” a third woman chimed in.

One woman said she saw the trio in the area the same day.

A view of the tent from a helicopter.
A police officer also talked to the family regarding their Covid lockdown breach as the country battles its new highly-infectious variant. Source: Staithes Coastguard/Alastair Smith

“I saw this couple and child yesterday on the Cleveland Way carrying all their gear and did wonder about their situation. As none of us know what this is I really feel it is not right to be horrible towards them,” she wrote, addressing some of the harsh complaints.

“Come on? Common sense tells you that that is not a wise place to put a tent!” someone responded to her.

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