A collapsed wall and steps has blocked public access to a South Shore beach, it was revealed yesterday.

The Emergency Measures Organisation said “extensive damage” had been caused to the route to Elbow Beach in Paget.

Officials added that powerful waves generated by Hurricane Teddy had also washed away much of the beach.

A government spokeswoman said that the Royal Bermuda Regiment had inspected the storm-damaged wall and engineers from the public works ministry would repair the damage when weather conditions permitted.

She said the public should stay away from the area.

Maria Wilks, 63, said that she and her friends had walked on the beach in their spare time almost every day for years.

But she added that, now that the beach had been washed away, they would be forced to find somewhere else. Ms Wilks said: “Where are we going to hang around now?

“This is worrying because we don’t know when we’re going to get it back.”

Ms Wilks, from Paget, said that she found out that the beach had been washed away through social media.

She added that, when she saw that waves were breaking on the stairs down to the beach, “it looked like the sea was coming to us”.

Ms Wilks said: “We’ve never seen something like this before — not even last year when Hurricane Humberto hit.”

Nicholas Davis, 20, said he had no idea of the extent of the damage until he arrived at the beach and saw it had been swept away.

He added: “I only came to look at the waves — all of this was unexpected to me, so I’m really surprised.”

Mr Davis, who moved to Paget last week, said that he had not been to Elbow Beach for about three years, but had planned to visit the area more after he moved.

But he added: “Now I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

Mr Davis said: “I heard many people talking about this beach and saying how great it was, but after seeing this it kind of changed my mind a bit.”

“Honestly I don’t know what to expect at this point.

“Seeing how something like this could happen, anything could be possible.”