A CAR park serving Hamlet Court Road in Westcliff could accommodate eight new “pod-style” prefab homes to ease the housing crisis, it has been revealed.

Southend Council is in the early stages of developing plans to build either six homes or eight, single-person “pod-style”prefabricated homes on part of the Hamlet Court Road car park in Westcliff.

The plans would see between 55 and 60 car parking spaces cut from the 155-space car park.

The move, designed to boost the number of homes in Southend to ease the housing shortage, has sparked controversy.

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Businesses say they rely on the car park after a new residents’ only parking permit scheme was introduced in roads surrounding Hamlet Court Road at the end of last year.

Joe Bees, 80, of Smart Vision, in Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff, said: “I think it’s a disaster and I have to park there as I have nowhere else to park.

“It’s ridiculous and we’ve already seen a drop in trade with customers telling us they can’t get parked.

“It will have a further detrimental affect on our business and trade if we lose some of the parking.

“People will be affected when going to the Palace Theatre too.”

The council says initial feasibility works show the site could be used for either six homes - including four twobedroom homes and two three-bedroom homes - or eight one-person, “pod-style” homes.

Southend councillor Derek Jarvis, Tory shadow cabinet member for culture and heritage, said: “We want to see people coming to the town and we cannot be anti-car.

“I get frustrated with plans to reduce parking spaces and any plan to do so has got be seen as a barrier for people coming to the town.

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“We need to make it easier for people to come here, it’s a no brainer.”

Ian Gilbert, Labour councillor responsible for housing, said: “To deliver on our housing and homelessness strategy we simply need more council homes for those who need them.

“For all of these sites identified there is much more work to be done, and in the case of Hamlet Court Road, we need to look in more detail at the demand of that car park and how we could use the space more effectively to maximise the number of car parking spaces, for example.

“This all needs to be considered as part of judging if the site is feasible before we get to thinking about planning and design.”