Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Harbour wall in Moray at risk of ‘imminent collapse’ as damage worsens

This is the breakwater pier wall of Cullen Harbour which has sustained further substantial damage due to strong waves.
This is the breakwater pier wall of Cullen Harbour which has sustained further substantial damage due to strong waves.

An entire sea wall at a Moray port is at risk of “imminent collapse” after more of it crashed into the water.

A hole in the pier at Cullen Harbour was reported at the beginning of the week after rock was sucked from underneath the walkway.

Yesterday, a huge gap was created in the wall after more of the historic structure fell into the Moray Firth.

Last night, concerned residents gathered on the pier, which had already been partially sealed off, to see the damage for themselves.

Waves crashed through the gaping hole causing more brickwork to become loose. It is believed that high tides in recent days have accelerated the damage.

Moray Council engineers are due to visit the harbour on Monday to inspect the wall and consider repairs.

Meanwhile, the local authority has urged people to stay away from the hole due to the “fragile” nature of the remaining wall.

Dennis Paterson, a member of Cullen Community Council, described the damage as “awful” for the town.

He said: “The biggest worry for us is that the big capstan winch could be the next to go. It was used to haul in the boats and fish in years past. It’s still there at the moment but it’s a worry.

“It really is pretty disastrous. We reported concerns to the powers-that-be many moons ago, maybe April, and were told it would be monitored regularly.

“It’s going to cost an awful lot more to repair it now. A cure is always a lot worse than prevention.”

It is understood that cracks have also been seen in the inner pier at the port too.

Cullen Harbour is considered to be a grade B-listed monument by Historic Environment Scotland. It was erected in 1817 and was designed by Thomas Telford, who was also responsible for the Craigellachie Bridge and the Caledonian Canal.

A Moray Council spokesman said: “The Cullen harbour wall is very precarious. People should keep away from it as it’s in a state of imminent collapse. We will be on site on Monday.”