This is the shocking moment a basejumper put his own and many other lives in danger by throwing himself off a cliff on to a packed beach.

Hundreds of Bank Holiday beach goers watched on in horror as the man plummeted from the 150ft cliff made famous by the hit ITV drama Broadchurch in West Bay, Dorset.

It took just six seconds for him to land on the shingle beach among the sunbathers, falling at 25ft a second.

The basejumper, who is believed to be in his 20s, then gathered his equipment and fled the area.

A second, older man was stood with the basejumper on top of the cliff and held his parachute before letting go.

Photographer Graham Hunt said he couldn't believe his eyes when the basejumper descended from the cliff on to the masses below at about 1.50pm.

He said: "I can't believe I've just seen a basejumper leap off that cliff on one of the busiest days of the year when there are hundreds of people sunbathing on and walking along the beach.

"If he had slightly caught the wind or misjudged it he could easily have landed on the people below.

"It was a ridiculous thing to do and everyone was in shock because it was just so dangerous, it was Bank Holiday madness."

The 180 million year sandstone cliffs form part of Britain's World Heritage Jurassic Coast but they are prone to regular and sudden rockfalls.

In 2012 holidaymaker Charlotte Blackman, 22, was crushed to death under a 400-tonne rockfall further along the beach.

Jake Lanning, of West Bay coastguard, said basejumping was not illegal but needed to be done 'with due consideration to other members of the public'.

He said: "The Jurassic Coast is a wonderful place to come and visit but these cliffs are prone to rockfalls.

"Basejumping is not illegal providing the jumper has permission from the landowner but it should be done with consideration to other members of the public.

"The low height of these cliffs being about 150ft means there is a very narrow margin of error."

Ian Guy, Maritime Operations Controller for HM Coastguard, said: "West Bay is a beautiful part of our coastline and everyone should be free to enjoy it safely.

"Jumping off a cliff and landing on a busy beach in the middle of a sunny bank holiday is extremely irresponsible and could easily have caused injury to members of the public or the base jumpers themselves.

"The base jumpers were also standing right on the edge of unstable cliffs, which equally could have caused injury or worse to the people sitting beneath the cliffs.

"Please act sensibly along the cliffs and on the beach, considering the safety of others as well as yourself.

"If you or someone else is in difficulty along the coast or at sea please call 999 and ask for the coastguard."