DAME Vera Lynn last night gave her support to a £1million plan to buy the
White Cliffs of Dover for the nation.
The singer, 95 — who sang the 1942 wartime hit about the Kent landmark — said
the 360ft-high cliffs “should be saved in its entirety”.
The National Trust will today launch a £1.2million appeal to buy a 0.8 mile
strip above Dover from a private land owner.
The charity already owns five miles of the surrounding coast.
The purchase of the land near the famous South Foreland lighthouse would
complete “the missing link” of ownership in the cliffs, the charity said.
Fiona Reynolds, director general of the National Trust, said: “If we don’t
raise the money, the future of the White Cliffs is uncertain. This stretch
of coastline might one day be disrupted by inappropriate development.”
Historian and TV presenter Dan Snow backed the appeal.
He said: “The White Cliffs of Dover are one of the country’s greatest
landmarks.
“When I heard the National Trust had this opportunity to safeguard this
crucial stretch of the cliffs, I thought ‘Great!’.”