A heartbroken mother fears her cliff-top home could fall into the sea at Christmas after 8 meters of land was swept away in just a month. Nicola Bayless’s three-bed semi in Happisburgh was left less than 15 meters from the cliff after storms Babet and Ciaran devastated the Norfolk coast in the autumn. And he fears his family’s £375,000 estate could be depleted by the end of December as the village remains struggling. Nicola, 48, said: “We’re not into winter yet but we’ve lost so much we may have to leave in the spring or even before Christmas. “This is very scary.” His late parents, Anita and Arthur Richmond, first bought Beacon House in 2001, when it was 200 meters from the cliff edge. They knew the property, nestled between houses on Beach Road, would not exist forever, as the government had decided not to improve local sea defences. But since then the sea has created huge “cream cheese” areas like coastlines, forcing dozens of locals to abandon their luxury properties. And Nicola, who moved to the property seven years ago, now fears her ‘worthless’ home could become uninhabitable in just a few months. The nurse said: “This is so sad and scary, if you let it take over your mind it can be mentally demoralizing. “I’m not choosing to go and find a new place. This is something I am forced to do. I’d stay here forever, but I won’t risk it. “Four meters went after Babet. Then another two meters after Ciarán. But more have gone since then. So you’re talking seven to eight meters in a month. “We used to have Christmas light competitions with our children. Neighbors – how many lights can you put on in your house? It looked like Las Vegas down the road. “The disappearance of village life saddens you too.” Nicola said she holidayed with her family in the 1980s and 1990s in the idyllic Happisburgh area, famous for its red and white striped lighthouses, and they “fell in love” with Beacon House, which they visited on one of those memorable trips. Bought 20 years ago for £76,000, mother-of-two Nicola said her parents gave her the house when she started a family in 2016, while they moved into a nearby terraced house and later a bungalow. The house, which has a huge 50-metre (164ft) backyard and an outbuilding, will later be passed on to their grandchildren, but Nicola said the couple would be shocked to see the devastating loss of land that has occurred in the five years since their lives. “My mother and father said, ‘He’ll take you out, he’ll take your children out,’ she said. “In the research it was said that it was 150 years before the cliff met the house. This was quite believable because of where it was located. But they were only gone five years ago and you wouldn’t believe it in that time.” How much is gone? “I think they’d be very surprised if they went back and saw all this because it’s completely crazy, absolutely crazy. “Climate change, worsening weather and things like that; That’s all I can do.” put it down.” Nicola remembers how certain storms destroyed the coastline close to her property, and uses a tape measure to keep track of erosion after each big wave. But back-to-back storms Babet and Ciarán between October 18 and November 4 brought some of the worst landslides in recent memory. “We had the ‘Beast from the East’ in 2012,” She said. This was pretty scary. You could actually see the sea rising over the cliff. “When we were in Babet and Ciarán, what was worse was the rain. It just fell over and spilled onto the side of the road. “Wait a minute, a meter of asphalt was sagging. The next minute he was dangling twenty feet. “About three hours later, when I came down, I saw that he had moved away from the bottom of the cliff. The next day it was all over. It was crazy. He added: “I felt a really loud explosion last Thursday night [Nov 23]It looked like a huge thunderclap. I’m sure this is part of the cliff falling. “Actually, this place is just like cream cheese. It looks like it’s disappearing because it’s just clay and soil, no rocks. It’s like it’s been carved out.” Nicola said she had been told by the local council that moving elsewhere was now “the top priority” after last weekend’s storms destroyed an even larger part of the coastline. However, he is also aware that the money he may be given to move will not be close to the real value of the property if it were placed on more solid ground. He said: “A property my size with a garden and an outbuilding; if it were anywhere else it would probably be £375,000 or more. So I won’t be buying it.”[The cliff] currently less than 15 feet from home. Local officials are talking to us, preparing us and they will help. “But I don’t know how much they’re going to help financially. They’re keeping their cards close to their chests, which is fair enough because you can’t promise something you can’t deliver. But they’re like, ‘We’re very, very closed on that. For people leaving in 2012, it was almost nothing compared to what their homes cost. “Some were placed in local authority housing, paying rent, and others bought a much smaller house. Nicola said it was particularly difficult to leave home as it was where her late husband Steve passed away after heart failure at the age of 42. She also faced the fact that her children would never be able to live again.” He said he was faced with returning home in his later years. He said: “Losing your home is just like another grieving process.” “One of my kids was born here and then it went all the way. It’s crazy that they can stand on the beach and say, ‘This is where my house was.’ It’s quite surreal, really.” Coastal transition manager Rob Goodliffe, from North Norfolk District Council, said his team had been working with Nicola to find “solutions” and offer support: “We recently met with Nicola and other residents in Happisburgh who are at risk of erosion to discuss their situation and what kind of support would be available to them.” “We’re working hard to help them find solutions and provide them with support. “We are so grateful to be in the position we are on the Coastwise programme, which allows us to work with communities to explore future options to prepare for coastal change and begin to take practical action.” Failure to provide compensation for home losses, which has long been the position of successive governments. “The council is understanding and sympathetic to Nicola, other residents and the communities affected along our coast, and we look forward to working with them to help transition to coastal change.”