SECTIONS of Southend seafront could become a no-go zone for cars on busy summer days under the council’s new parking plan.

Southend Council has produced its ten-year parking strategy which could give the council the power to close sections of the seafront to traffic, particularly on busy summer days.

Areas of the seafront subject closed to cars would be monitored by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras, with fixed penalty notices issued to those who breach the closures.

Philip Miller, owner of Adventure Island, believes the move will hit businesses and slammed it as “madness”.

He said: “What will they think of next to destroy trade on the seafront. They increase parking charges exponentially to force customers away. They now want to essentially close us down.

“Do they not understand cars are oxygen to businesses, imagine closing Leigh Broadway or Southchurch Road. There would be outcry. What about the congestion and pollution this madness will create?”

Mr Miller added: “Just imagine normal residents travelling from East to west in the town all being siphoned through the already bottlenecked roads.”

The strategy includes charging owners of gas-guzzling vehicle more to park. This would also be monitored by ANPR cameras, which would check registration numbers against a database of vehicles.

The council will also move forward with cashless parking by a phased programme to remove cash ticket machines across the city.

Steven Wakefield, councillor responsible for highways, transport and parking, said parts of the strategy may not necessarily implemented but would provide the council with the means to implement them if they wished to.

He added: “If we want to pedestrianise the seafront in the next ten years we can because it’s already in the document. You could prevent traffic going through a zone at certain times.

“In the summer, if it was a really busy Saturday on the seafront, it then becomes more dangerous to have cars going along the seafront in that area. Then it would be safer for people and a lot more environmentally sound.”

The strategy will be discussed at a place scrutiny meeting on Monday.