LANDSLIDE

The holidaymakers heard a loud rumble before the whole of the back wall of the hotel caved in under the pressure of the 6,000 ton landslide.

Rescuers quickly dashed to free the three people partially trapped under the rubble, who only seconds earlier had been sat against the back wall Shanklin Beach Hotel ballroom, Shanklin, Isle of Wight, where the sandstone cliff crashed in.

Twenty people from the neighbouring Redcliff flats were also evacuated and have been taken, along with the hotel guests, to four hotels around Shanklin.

Philip Nelson, 68, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, was one of those trapped.

"The entertainer had just started the quiz when there was loud rumbling, like a lorry. Suddenly the wall crashed over behind me and I was trapped by my false leg.

"Fortunately people came to my help and I was able to loosen the metal leg and was pulled free," said Mr Nelson, who lost his leg due to diabetes.

"I probably would have had it totally crushed if it wasn't a false leg'' he said. He and hundreds of other guests were on coach tour holidays to the Isle of Wight for the week.

"When the cliff came roaring through we were all left stunned. But people quickly reacted to help those trapped and alerted others in the hotel''

Emergency services rushed to the 96-bedroom seafront hotel following the cliff fall at 9.15pm.

A couple who were in their first floor bedroom, having an early night, said they heard the loud rumble and then saw the cliff crash across the car park at the rear of the hotel, crushing several cars before crashing into the ballroom.

The cliff also bulldozed its way into a ground floor bedroom, but its occupants were fortunately not there.

"It's amazing no one was badly injured,'' said Mr Nelson, who was on holiday with his wife Margaret.

Four people who were in the ballroom were taken to nearby St Mary's Hospital, Newport for treatment for slight injuries.

Everyone else in the hotel was evacuated to a safer area as they awaited news on whether the whole building would have to be emptied.

The landslip came from a 150ft high section of cliff behind the hotel, which has been saturated with rain during the winter's record rainfall.

Already this winter there have been several other major slips on a stretch of cliff slightly further up the coast. One in December wrecked a cafe.

Firefighters and council staff were assessing the damage and level of safety for the hotel occupants and people in other buildings nearby.

"It was frightening, we couldn't believe what was happening when the wall caved in and the rubble crashed in," said Susan Parker, 46, from Alnwick, Northumberland, who was in the ballroom with her husband Bryan, 61.

"Everyone had only been dancing minutes before disaster struck. We had then just sat down for the quiz when we heard the terrifying rumble."

Behind the hotel in the car park, the landslip crushed two cars and fencing.

Mr Nelson said:"I told the entertainer afterwards, 'I bet you've never bought the house down like this before'."