For generations the people of Selsey on the West Sussex coast have fought to hold back the sea. In recent years there have been several winter storms where the sea seemed to have the upper hand, sweeping up and over the giant shingle bank along the shore line at Medmerry. Millions of pounds were spent shoring up the shingle. But now - engineers have begun to breach that protective bank. It's the final stage of a radical new flood defence scheme. The sea is being allowed to break through the shingle. It will be contained by a new five mile long earth bank further inland. Hundreds of acres of land will be flooded to help protect the nearby town.