'Big rock, big rock!' Mother tells how she cried out before boulder killed her nine-year-old daughter in horrific beach rockfall as coroner calls for better warning signs

• e-mail

Harriet Forster, nine, spent the day rock pooling and fossil hunting on a beach in Staithes, North Yorkshire on August 8. As she left with her mother a rock fell on her, killing her almost instantly 

A mother has spoken of the devastating moment she tried in vain to warn her young daughter of a rockfall before a boulder crushed and killed her.

Harriet Forster, nine, spent the day rock pooling and fossil hunting on a beach in Staithes, North Yorkshire on August 8. 

But tragedy struck when a large boulder fell 200ft from the cliff face above her and landed on top of the helpless schoolgirl.

Her mother Holly, 47, of Bicester, Oxfordshire, screamed 'big rock, big rock!' as she hurtled towards her little girl.

Despite 'heroic' efforts from other beach-goers to revive her, Harriet died lying on the sand after suffering traumatic head and abdominal injuries.  

In an emotional statement read out to her inquest today, her mother said: 'I'm still haunted day and night by the horrors of Harriet's death on the 8th of August. The sight and sounds of that day are never far from my mind.

'Being without Harriet, who was the apple of my eye and the light of my life, causes me pain that I suspect I will never recover from.

'I would swap places with her in a heart beat. Harriet could not have been more loved and cherished by all who knew her.'

The inquest was told there had been 55,000 rock falls involving 3,000 tonnes of rubble in the area in just two years.

But Scarborough Borough Council had only put one small sign up - which Holly nor Harriet saw.

Coroner Michael Oakley gave a verdict of accidental death and warned there are not enough signs in the area.     

There have been 55,000 rock falls involving 3,000 tonnes of rubble in the area in just two years. But Scarborough Borough Council had only put one small sign up (pictured) - which Holly nor Harriet saw

The tragedy occurred during this summer's heatwave when the mother and daughter travelled from their home in Oxfordshire for a holiday in Yorkshire.

The hearing was told the pair were about 10ft from the cliff side when Ms Forster heard the noise of pebbles falling.

She looked up and saw a boulder measuring approximately two foot by two foot hurtling towards.

They ran away from the cliff side but both were struck and ended up on the floor.

In a statement read out by the coroner, the inquest heard the mother recalled hearing the big boulder hit something that 'sounded like stone', although it soon became evident it had hit her daughter.

The youngster was unconscious, there was blood pouring from her head and her arm and leg were both broken, the inquest heard.

In her statement, which was read out by the coroner as Ms Forster was still too distressed to attend, she described blacking out for a very short time after rocks landed on her head and on her back.

She said: 'I could see Harriet, she was a couple of arms lengths in front of me.

'I was on the floor and Harriet was on the floor. I scrambled and tried to get to Harriet.

'Harriet was in a cleft in the rock with her feet towards the sea and her head towards the cliff.

'I got my hand under her arm pit and back. I pulled her out of the cleft to assess her

'She was unconscious, her head fell back, she was a dead weight, her hair was streaked with blood, her eyes were rolled back, her right leg was broken, her bone was exposed and her foot was attached by a piece of flesh.

'I realised Harriet wasn't breathing. I just thought 'don't be dead'. Her lips were going blue and her tongue was white. I called out for help.'

Coroner Oakley asked Scarborough Council engineering boss John Woodhead what had been done to protect the public since the tragedy. He said nothing - no extra signs have been put up

An off-duty policeman and an off-duty paramedic attended the scene within minutes while an air ambulance was called.

Despite an hour spent attempting to resuscitate Harriet she was pronounced dead on the beach.  

Coroner Oakley asked Scarborough Council engineering boss John Woodhead what had been done to protect the public since the tragedy. 

He replied: 'Regrettably nothing sir.'

He visited Staithes shortly after the tragedy and found a mother and two children hunting for fossils at the same spot.

He warned them to move away but within five or ten minutes more people had gathered to collect fossils.

The land above the cliffs is owned by the National Trust but the council is responsible for the signs.

The inquest was told there was no specific warning to the public to keep their distance and actual mention of the danger of rock falls. 

Coroner Oakley called for the signs to be improved. He also called for a physical barrier to keep people away from the base of the cliffs.

He added: 'I have to say I have been in post for high on 40 years and this is one of the most tragic incidents I have had to deal with.

'It is simply a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

He said Ms Forster, from Weston on the Green, Bicester, Oxford, had been unable to attend the hearing because she was clearly suffering from post traumatic stress.