WITH winter's storms just around the corner, extra rock material has today been brought into Felixstowe ready to bolster the town's sea defences.Coastal defence engineers have decided that prudence will be their watchword this winter – and they will be ready to react immediately if gale-lashed waves break through to threaten land or homes.

WITH winter's storms just around the corner, extra rock material has today been brought into Felixstowe ready to bolster the town's sea defences.

Coastal defence engineers have decided that prudence will be their watchword this winter – and they will be ready to react immediately if gale-lashed waves break through to threaten land or homes.

Contractors have been working in Manor Terrace to position a pile of huge rocks so they can be used at a moment's notice.

Experts have already warned that some of the sea defences guarding the resort's southern beaches could fail at any time, and last winter more than £150,000 had to be spent on emergency work after storms.

The work included placing huge rocks at the Manor End ramp where the sea wall is deteriorating and beach levels are very low. Underpinning was also carried out to strategic groynes.

A Suffolk Coastal council spokesman said the work taking place this week was to stockpile material in readiness for any problems.

"With winter storms in the offing we are taking action just in case so that we can reinforce vulnerable areas along the whole of the Felixstowe coastline," he said.

Following a consultants' report and an exhibition to ask the public for its views, which were then ignored, the council has agreed proposals for a £2.5 million scheme to strengthen the ageing defences from Orford Road to Manor End.

It wants to start work on the project to replace existing concrete and timber groynes with rock fishtail groynes and/or off shore reefs within two years.

Those individuals and organisations which took part in the public consultation preferred timber groynes and considered fishtail groynes to be an eyesore.

But the council said new timber groynes would be expensive to maintain in the long term with a life expectancy less than rock, which could also be used to create bays to creating more areas of beach.

Other proposals include the replacement and realignment of the promenade wall at Manor End, and construction of a one metre-high crest wall on the edge of the promenade in the next five years from Orford Road to Manor End to stop shingle being washed up onto the promenade and hold back the sea.

There is also a 15-year project to build new groynes or reefs from the War Memorial to Orford Road.