A MAN held a child on his shoulders near the edge of crumbling cliffs.

The man was pictured at Birling Gap, close to a National Trust museum which describes how sections of the cliff are known to crack and fall on to the beach below at any moment

A witness, who took the picture yesterday morning, called the act “sheer madness”.

There are giant cracks on the cliff face and the site is littered with warning sings.

And the National Trust and coastguards have repeatedly warned that the chalk can collapse without warning.