It could take a month to fill in a hole on Teignmouth seafront caused, it is believed, by devastating wave pressure.

The cost so far is close to £250,000 and more will need to be spent as engineers battle to establish why it appeared and to complete repairs.

The bill will be met by government grants.

What at first was thought to be minor damage has snowballed and the fact that engineers have to work around the tides means progress can be slow.

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