Campaigners fear a developer still plans to go ahead with its controversial plans to build luxury houses on a Newquay clifftop despite two major cliff collapses.

The Save Whipsiderry Cliffs group has spoken out after contractors working for Living Quarter Properties (Porth) Limited carried out drilling at the site of the former Paradise Cove Hotel.

The company plans to build seven luxury villas there but the campaign group, residents and Newquay Town Council are against the scheme as a condition of the planning approval is to concrete the cliff.

Save Whipsiderry Cliffs has staged various protests against the cliff stabilisation works as they believe it would ruin the picturesque area and would be detrimental to wildlife.

Andrew Robey from the Save Whipsiderry Cliffs, said: “There is activity on site.

“The developer has decided to bore into the site to check if it’s stable enough after the cliff has fallen down.

“So in the report they commissioned back in 2016 it gave recommendations saying that they should actually do further analysis of the rock to see if it was competent or not but they ignored this and started drilling anyway.

“So now they commissioned someone to bore holes in it to see if it’s stable or not.

“Seems like they're still wanting to build even after their previous efforts. Got to love their tenacity.”

Joanna Kenny, the chairman of Newquay Town Council’s planning committee, said: “Alerted by talk of construction works on the Whipsiderry cliffs I went up there to check for myself.    

“The works were taking core samples, presumably to check whether the obvious cracks in the cliffs are reasonably superficial or stretching right back under the proposed development.

“The Fulmers who are nesting now don't seem bothered.

“The birds are determinedly nesting on the new cracks and there’s usually enough warning for the them to move if there is a fall.   

“There are a number already nesting and a number flying about looking for their pet places that no longer exist.

“And neither does the core drilling look to be affecting the stability of the cliff, any more than it is already, that is.   

“It is quite clear that there have been more falls since December.

“Looking from the head of the steps along with the obvious vertical cracks, there is a huge horizontal crack which as the supporting debris is washed away by the tide will fall and bring down yet more land from the site.

“And the view from the Porth side is definitely scary.     

“But there is no way of predicting when the next major fall will come, it’s just obvious that there is a lot more to come.”

The developer has been contacted for comment.