Beach visitors watched on in horror as a young man was injured after 'tombstoning' at a popular hotspot in Devon yesterday.
Groups of young people were spotted jumping off a jagged cliff and plummeting into the sea below in Imperial Ledge, Torquay.
A young man suffered a suspected leg injury after falling into the sea, with coastguard rescue teams called to the scene at Peaked Tor Cove shortly after 3.30pm on July 9.
Emergency services including HM Coastguard’s Torbay and Berryhead Coastguard Rescue Teams, Torbay RNLI lifeboat, South West Ambulance Service, and HART were sent to the incident near the Imperial Hotel.
A video shot from the scene showed a large group of youngsters standing on the edge of the cliff before plummeting below, Devon Live reports.
Since the incident, calls have been made to fence off the rocks in order to stop people jumping from them.
One person commented on a now viral Facebook post: "Then why not do the sensible thing and put railings round it!!" A second wrote: "Why not build a platform in a safe area for them to do it from."
A third chimed in: "Make a safe platform for them to jump off. Problem solved" and a fourth added: "Every year they risk it someone is going to get killed."
Meanwhile others did not see the issue, urging people to 'let them have fun' at the popular tourist hotspot.
A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said: “At around 3.30pm on July 9, HM Coastguard’s Torbay and Berryhead Coastguard Rescue Teams, Torbay RNLI lifeboat, South West Ambulance Service, and HART were sent to assist a casualty with a suspected leg injury on the coast of Torquay.
"The casualty was brought from a less accessible part of the beach by the lifeboat and passed into the care of the ambulance service.”
A spokesperson for HM Coastguard Area Commander for South Devon and South-East Cornwall Coastline confirmed on Twitter that the tombstoning teenagers and the injured casualty were linked.
On Twitter, he said: “A young man was evacuated from Imperial Ledge following an injury sustained while tombstoning this afternoon.”
The Coastguard recently issued a warning labelling tombstoning a potentially deadly activity that 'ruins lives' after a man was seriously injured during a Torquay cliff fall in 2019.
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