A drilling company boss has highlighted an "alarming retreat" in Suffolk’s coastline due to the effects of coastal erosion.

John Rodgman, managing director at Peterborough-based Borehole Solutions, named Suffolk among areas where the coast is being washed away, creating a growing risk of future flooding events.

The other areas were Norfolk, Yorkshire and Dorset and the problem was especially acute in these areas because the shore was made of sandstone and limestone rocks, which were more susceptible to coastal erosion than harder igneous rocks.

By the end of the century, an estimated 7,000 homes are expected to be lost as the UK’s coastline recedes.

Mr Rodgman said: “The parts of our coastline that are made up of harder rocks remain largely unchanged over the last few centuries.

“Areas such as Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Dorset, for example, boast of an alarming retreat to their coastlines. So much so, that, by the end of the century, we can expect to lose an estimated 7,000 homes to the coastline’s retreat.”

He predicted that coastal flooding would cause a bill of £120m a year in damages to business premises.

In February, the EADT reported concerns from a parish council chair that erosion needed to be made a greater priority in his area.

Andrew Block, chair of Bawdsey Parish Council, spoke after historic Bawdsey Manor applied for planning permission to install new sea defences, including rock groynes, to protect the landmark, made famous for developing the radar that helped to win the Battle of Britain during the Second World War.

He said: “We recognise that unlike somewhere like Felixstowe where you have got the sea threatening a conurbation, we are basically just a small village and therefore we don’t attract any government grants for coastal protection.

“But we are very concerned about what is happening at the moment. It is not so much the manor that is in immediate danger at the moment as the area in front of it, although if the cliffs keep falling, the manor will become at some risk.”