CONTROVERSIAL shared space zone on Southend seafront is set to close overnight for three weeks to make it safer for pedestrians to cross.

Marine Parade will be shut between 7pm and 7.30am from Mondays to Saturdays, starting on April 15, to allow four informal crossings to be installed in an area where two children were involved in accidents.

The move, which follows the recommendations of an independent review last year, will get started after the Easter holidays and should finish before the first May bank holiday.

Despite the possible disruptions, council chiefs are confident it will be business as usual for traders, visitors and residents.

Andrew Lewis, Southend Council’s corporate director for enterprise, tourism and the environment, said: “Work will only take place during the night, so the usual commuting traffic will be able to pass through as normal.

“There will still be access for everyone who lives in connecting streets, and we will make allowances for deliveries to reach traders there as well. “We are doing everything as quickly as possible.”

Complaints about the shared space zone, in which pedestrians, drivers and cyclists are encouraged to mix freely, emerged shortly after it opened in March 2011.

Critics began urgent calls for change that summer, after two children were knocked down in Marine Parade within six weeks.

The new paving will appear as wavy grey and white lines running at right-angles to the pavements. They will be positioned outside Chinnerys, the Hope Hotel, Circus Circus arcade and the Happidrome.