A British woman plunged to her death, along with her partner, while taking a selfie on a picturesque wall in Portugal, according to local authorities.

Perth man Michael Kearns, 33, Louise Benson, 37, his British partner, fell 30 metres off a beach wall and were found by shocked locals early on Tuesday morning.

His mother confirmed to local media that she had been notified of his death in the early hours of the morning in Perth.

She said the couple had left Australia in January on a holiday and had attended a friend’s wedding in Portugal in recent weeks.

A mobile phone was found on the top of the wall overlooking the beach in the seaside town of Ericeira, where the bodies of the couple were found on Tuesday morning.

Rui Pereira da Terra, the captain of the maritime authority in Cascais, said the two victims appeared to have lost their balance while taking a photograph overlooking Fishermen’s Beach.