TOURISTS were forced to evacuate as Mother Nature vented her fury on an seaside caravan park in northern New South Wales.

Cabins and caravans at the packed 176-site Kingscliff Beach Holiday Park in Marine Parade were in danger of being washed into the sea as high seas and pounding surf stripped away up to 15 metres of sandbanks.

Pandanus trees and Norfolk pines at the edge of the three-star park were undermined and threatened to crash down on rooftops.

Several beach-front cabins were relocated away from the danger zone.

Beachside signs were swallowed up by the raging surf and disappeared out to sea.

When Caravanning News called at the park, huge sand-moving machines were busy on the beach and high fencing surrounded parts of the park.

One Queensland caravanner told us how people were told to evacuate as the sound of crashing waves filled the night-time air.

"Someone came hammering on our door and told us to get out quickly because a 12ft tree was about to topple over. It was very frightening," he said.

Some caravanners claimed they had already warned of the danger.

"We had been watching trees dropping into the water for a couple of weeks," one claimed.

Tweed Shire Council later announced it would spend $255,000 extending a five-metre high wall of sandbags in a bid to stop further erosion at the park, which is popular with southerners seeking winter sunshine.

The State Government will be asked for $3 million to help permanently repair the erosion damage. This will involve pumping 300,000 cubic metres of sand from the Tweed River onto the beach.

A council official said the caravan park was an important asset to Kingscliff because of the income it generated for local businesses.

LATE NEWS: Tweed Shire Council may build a permanent wall between the caravan park and ocean to save it being washed into the Pacific Ocean.

A feasibility study was suggested after an extraordinary meeting of the Tweed Coast Holiday Parks Reserve Trust, which manages the erosion-savaged tourist park.