GIANT boulders guard Hopton cliffs from the North Sea, after two shipments of Norwegian rock arrived for emergency defences.

Bosses of threatened Hopton Holiday Village moved three caravans away from the cliff edge after a landslip in March, and the beach is disappearing amid severe erosion.

But project engineer Alastair Tindle says the £500,000 rock scheme is less than a fortnight from “ensuring the whole of the frontage is secure”.

Work began early last month using 2,000 tonnes of rock left over from a project at Felixstowe, before two shipments from Norway arrived at Lowestoft on April 16 and 24.

There is 9,000 tonnes of rock in total – up from previous plans for 5,000 tonnes.

“We ordered the second shipment from Norway as we want to have a stockpile so we can always cover any future eventuality instead of having to wait three weeks for a shipment to arrive,” explained Mr Tindle.

The majority of the rock from the first shipment – from the Larvik quarry in Norway – is now in a stockpile at the bottom of Beach Road, with some moved along the beach.

The scheme is being funded by at least £300,000 from Bourne Leisure – operators of Hopton Holiday Village – and £200,000 from Great Yarmouth Borough Council.