THE Roberts family are giving a whole new meaning to moving house.

Their removal men are using 90-tonne hydraulic jacks and steel girders and the whole nerve-racking operation is likely to last several days.

Mark and Louise Roberts live in the Belle Tout lighthouse at Beachy Head, which is in danger of falling into the sea.

Work got underway yesterday to shift the 850-tonne building 55ft inland.

The task has been brought forward because a major rockfall had left it just 10ft from the cliff edge.

Louise said: "It all looks like a big building site at the moment. We are up against the clock in a fight against nature."

The lighthouse was hoisted two feet up on to specially-built steel girders with hydraulic jacks.

Workmen have dug 18ft into the ground to lay the girders.

And the 165-year-old structure is due to be moved inland along them on Wednesday, March 17.

Louise, 29, is relieved that efforts to save it are finally under way.

She said: "The workmen here have been hard at it 24 hours a day. It's been a massive upheaval.

"I had my second baby just five weeks ago and there's been all this to cope with.

"It's been a very tough period for the family but hopefully we can get back to normal life as soon as possible."

Louise and Mark recently turned Belle Tout into a bed-and-breakfast and are hoping to be back in business by April.

They have been living at a nearby farmhouse with baby Haven and their new arrival Quinn while the work continues.

Newly-laid underpinning will mean that if there is another sudden landslide, the lighthouse can be moved further back more easily in future.

At present Beachy Head is eroding at the rate of around 1.5 metres a year.

But Louise warned: "That's the average. It might not happen for 20 or 30 years and then there might be a sudden big fall again.

"Still, according to our data, the distance we are moving back should be enough to ensure Belle Tout's safety for at least our lifetime."

"It's a battle against the elements but it's such a beautiful place to live."

The lighthouse shot to fame when it was featured in the TV dramatisation of Fay Weldon's The Life And Loves of a She-Devil.

The lighthouse was built in 1834 to warn sailors off the dangerous stretch of water near Beachy Head.

Belle Tout only served as a working lighthouse until the end of the 19th Century when a series of rockfalls rendered it obsolete.

It became a private house in 1923, playing host to King George V in 1935.

In 1950 the lighthouse was saved from demolition and it was given listed status in 1955.

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