A scheme to stop clifftop homes crumbling into the sea is to go ahead after English Nature withdrew its objection.

The £3.3 million cliff restoration work at Fairlight Cove, near Hastings, could begin by April.

Householders feared the scheme was doomed after English Nature said the cliffs are a Site of Special Scientific Interest and should remain for future generations to study.

But the Government agency withdrew its opposition after negotiations with Rother District Council. English Nature has sent formal written notice of its Uturn and Government funding is in place.

Householders were popping champagne corks yesterday at the news that up to 200 at-risk homes will be saved. The home of retired airline cabin crewman Jim Saphin, 58, at Smugglers Way, is about 30ft from the cliff edge. He said: "We are absolutely elated by this announcement. We have seen the cliff go at a rate of about six inches in two years."

The work, due for completion in 2008, will involve shipping in giant granite blocks to stop erosion and channelling water gulleys from the clifftop to prevent land slippage. Similar work further along the cliff in the Eighties proved successful. For some the agreement has come too late. Keith Somerville, 53, of Rockmead Road, Fairlight Cove, has been told his house cannot be saved.

Mr Somerville, who has lived in the house with his partner for three years, said: "The house is just about to go. It's on the move and one of the walls is going."

Former Rockmead Road resident Nick Carter had to be rehomed two weeks ago when cracks appeared underneath the caravan he has lived in since his house fell off the cliff a few years ago.