PART OF the New Forest coastline has been cordoned off in a bid to prevent an incident similar to the Welsh landslip tragedy.

New Forest District Council has closed a seafront car park at Barton-on-Sea and fenced off an unstable section of the cliffs.

Experts are inspecting the area every day - and say the closures may have to remain in force for several months.

The restrictions were revealed at a meeting of the council's new advisory cabinet following the landslide at Nefyn, North Wales, on Tuesday.

A woman died and her husband was critically injured when their car was hit by a wall of mud and swept into the sea.

Months of heavy rain had loosened the earth above a road leading down to the beach.

The advisory cabinet was reviewing recent flooding problems in the New Forest when Liz Malcolm, director of environmental services, referred to the Welsh landslip.

She sought to reassure members by outlining the action that had been taken at Barton.

"Where we feel the public could be at risk has been fenced off to discourage access to the cliffs," said Ms Malcolm.

"We also have some concerns about the clifftop car park at Barton in the long-term, but I'm not aware of any immediate danger."

After the meeting, coastal projects manager Andrew Bradbury explained that the cliffs had a long history of instability.

He said: "A massive section of cliff about 300 metres long is creeping very gradually towards the sea.

"Wet weather tends to accelerate the process and bigger movements than normal have taken place in the past few weeks.

"We'll re-open the area to the public when the movement slows down to an acceptable level, which might not be until Spring."

Mr Bradbury stressed that the council kept a close eye on the cliffs and had cordoned off the danger zone before the Welsh tragedy.