BBC correspondent Max Cotton: The wall is big and brutal

The neighbouring larger island of Guernsey has in the past paid for the upkeep of the breakwater but now it says it is too expensive.

The breakwater is a masterpiece of Victorian engineering and stretches two-thirds of a mile into the sea.

Guernsey wants natural forces to take their toll

The wall was built to protect the British from the French but nowadays it protects the people of Alderney and their way of life from the sea.

The breakwater costs Guernsey more than £500,000 to maintain and the larger island's government, the Guernsey Board of Administration, wants to build a new and smaller wall and let the old one wash away.

Board member Roger Berry said: "I feel very sorry for the breakwater and the people of Alderney but we have taken a hard look at it and the result has been that eventually that breakwater is going to go."

Raymond Berry, who built his house near the breakwater, fears if Guernsey goes ahead with its plans his home will be washed away.

He said: "When the breakwater was built 150 years ago the site of my house now was originally the beach.

Guernsey spends £500,000 each year on the wall

"I imagine when the breakwater does go eventually my house will be washed away and my £65,000 investment which the house has cost will be lost and I'll be homeless."

Small businesses, such as restaurants, will also be affected if the breakwater is lost as it allows yachts near the island.

All the island's supplies come by sea and if the breakwater is lost some fear deliveries could not be made in all weathers.

Roland Neill, who is leading opposition to plans to destroy the breakwater, said he would become the island's own "Swampy".

He said: "The wall, as we see it now, it can be saved and can be improved.