THE childhood sweetheart of landslide victim Charlotte Blackman has described for the first time the moments leading up to her death.
Charlotte, 22, from Heanor, was killed by tonnes of falling rock while on a family holiday in Dorset in July.
Matthew Carnell said he pulled Charlotte's younger brother Mitchell into the sea to avoid the landslide as rocks rained down from the cliffs above.
But he was unable to save Charlotte, who was killed instantly.
An inquest has now opened into the death at Dorset Coroner's Court, Bournemouth.
Matthew, 22, told the hearing: "All five of us decided to go for a walk while Rachel (Charlotte's mum) set up camp.
"I noticed ahead a cloud of dust, it could even have been smoke from a fire, drifting out to sea and within seconds it had cleared."
Mr Carnell said: "We walked along the beach and stopped to play in a rock pool for half an hour.
"We carried on walking then 15 minutes later decided to turn around and walk back.
"Within a minute of turning around I saw two small stones falling down the cliff face. I immediately looked up to the cliff and saw almost half of it collapse.
"Within the blink of an eye I saw what was happening. I heard a crashing sound grabbed Mitchell and ran a few metres into the sea.
"There was a dust cloud and I couldn't see anything."
Mr Carnell said the boulders that had fallen from the cliff ranged in size from a football to a stack of hay.
He said: "I tried to move the small boulders out of the way. People approached and told us to get out of the way. I heard them shouting It was complete chaos. All I could think of was to find Charlotte and get her out."
Other eye-witnesses at the hearing revealed that they had seen at least one other landslide before the fatal one.
Miss Blackman's family raised issues in court with the lack of signs in the area, which is a private beach used by customers of the Freshwater Holiday Park, near to a National Trust-owned beach.
Her father Kevin Blackman, who was injured in the landslide, on July 24, said: "The route we used to approach the beach from the holiday camp meant we didn't see any warning signs. There should be some near the playing fields so kids can see them."
Helen Mann, National Trust property manager in Dorset said: "The access to Freshwater beach is not owned by the National Trust.
"Signs on the beach itself can't be sustained. The beach has been closed, we own some of it, but we can't physically stop people going on it.
"We try to keep people safe as best we can. But we can't close all the beaches."
Sherriff Payne, coroner for Dorset, said: "I will make a report to Freshwater Holiday Park.
"They will have to make their signs more visible and keep them in locations where they will be seen.
"The National Trust has replaced 42 signs since July. It is an ongoing task that is impossible. The effects of the sea make their task more difficult.
Charlotte's post-mortem investigation concluded she died instantaneously of multiple injuries.
In summing up Mr Payne recorded a verdict of accidental death. He said: "Charlotte sadly died as a result of an accident – an act of nature that nobody could have expected."
