Flood defence training took place against the backdrop of West Bay's cliffs.

The Environment Agency carry out training exercises, much to the delight of a group of pupils from Winterbourne First School, who happened to be on a school trip there.

They had a look round the agency's Incident Command Unit, which acts as a mobile incident room and a temporary headquarters for staff out in the field, enabling better site management, situational awareness and visibility in flood risk communities.

The pupils, and visitors to the beach, saw up to 60 metres of temporary coastal defence barriers deployed in East Beach Car Park in preparation for any future tidal incidents.

The barriers – one of four types used by the agency – are large, self-supporting, recyclable containers filled with aggregate. They are covered with an impenetrable membrane which prevents water from getting through. They are also fitted with a lid to prevent loss of fill material during over-topping and extreme weather conditions.

Exercise organiser and engineer Dan Hooper said: “West Bay is a high risk flood area because of strong south westerly winds, high tides and the close proximity of properties to the sea and nearby River Brit so it’s essential we are ‘incident-ready’ by carrying out exercises like this."