THE eyes of the world have turned to Hope Cove after a mysterious face appeared in the cliff, attracting attention far and wide.

Gazette reader and Kingsbridge resident Tim Stathers was first to notice a section of cliff near Outer Hope had been eroded into the shape of a man's face, complete with grass hair and beard.

Tim, a marketing consultant for holiday lettings company Toad Hall Cottages, took a photo of the face and uploaded it to the company Facebook page.

And soon, requests for interviews and more information were coming in from up and down the country. The story has now been covered by ITV News, BBC Spotlight, and the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail, among many others.

Tim said: 'Over the weekend I kind of just wanted to crawl under the stairs and hide away, I was getting calls from everyone – the BBC, the Telegraph and Mirror.

'The picture even appeared on one pro-UKIP website that was claiming it looked like Nigel Farage. That's definitely not what I had in mind when I took it.'

Given how clear the face is, Tim was surprised that no-one else had noticed it first.

'I guess, because the footpath had been closed, no-one had really seen it. It was the first time my girlfriend and I had been for a walk down there since they reopened the path.

'When I put it on Facebook I didn't expect so much attention.'

The path at Hope Cove was closed after last winter's violent storms eroded the cliffs, making the route unsafe.

Toad Hall's marketing manager James Norton said many people had made special trips to the quiet South Hams village to see the face, to the delight of local businesses.

And while speculation is rife about who the face most resembles James said: 'The only person I can think of who it looks like is our IT manager.'