A woman who slipped and fell to her death while walking with her husband at Beachy Head has been named as Laraine Goodwin.

It is believed strong winds may have led the 49-year-old to lose her footing and plunge off the cliff on Saturday afternoon.

Onlookers called 999 and comforted the woman’s husband.

Tragic: A woman has died after she was accidentally ‘blown off a cliff near Eastbourne by a gust’ of wind and plunged 300ft to the sea

Coastguards found her body at the foot of the cliff and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police later took away a car, believed to be the couple’s, which was parked at a nearby cafe.

Yesterday Sussex Police said they were treating the death as a ‘tragic accident’.

Mrs Goodwin’s husband was interviewed following the tragedy near Eastbourne at about 3pm on Saturday but not arrested.

The couple, from Sevenoaks, in Kent , had been walking their dog near the Belle Tout lighthouse.

Local residents said the clifftop was extremely dangerous and tourists often stood too close  to the edge to have their photograph taken.

The weather at the spot was described as very wet and squally, with visibility significantly reduced.

Police later took away a car, believed to belong to the couple, which had been parked at the Birling Gap cafe.

Reported: Police were called after horrified eye witnesses saw the woman plunge over the edge

Incident: Police search the woman’s car near Birling Gap Cafe, close to the spot where the woman fell to her death

Not suspicious: Police have described the incident, which happened near the Birling Gap Cafe and Bar as a tragic accident

One person said that people could not help themselves, while another said the cliff edge seemed to draw them in.

A spokesman for Solent Coastguard said that it was believed the woman slipped.

‘So on the whole this coastline can be enjoyed and is very safe but this is a very tragic circumstance.’