Council to appeal over £2m cliff collapse bill

A council facing a £2m bill after the collapse of a four-star clifftop hotel is to take its case to the Court of Appeal.

Last October Scarborough Borough Council failed to convince a High Court judge that it was not responsible for storm damage and erosion to 65-metre cliffs beneath the Holbeck Hall Hotel (above).

The court heard that in June 1993 part of the lawn between the hotel and the sea collapsed. Guests and staff were evacuated only minutes before a further landslide swept away the conservatory and the hotel's seaward wing and bedrooms. The building and clifftop were so unsafe that the rest of the hotel, owned by Barry and Joan Turner, was demolished.

Judge John Hicks ruled that the council's failure to stabilise the cliff was a major contribution to the collapse and loss of the hotel. It was also claimed that the authority failed to put into effect the recommendations of specialist engineers who highlighted the problem nine years earlier.

The council has continually denied it is liable for an insurance bill of £2m and legal costs running into six figures. No date has been given for the full appeal hearing.