A vacant former shoe shop in Southend High Street is set to be transformed into a betting shop after plans were approved.

The existing Coral at the basement of 66-68 High Street is set to relocate to the former Shoe Zone store at 80 High Street as Southend Council has approved its change of use from a vacant shop to a betting office.

There will therefore not be an increase in the number of betting shops in the city.

This comes after the footwear retailer reopened at a new site in the high street this summer, offering a bigger selection of shoes.

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The proposed opening hours for the new Coral store are 8am to 10pm, Monday to Sunday. Given the nature of the use and the location of the site, the council considered the development would not result in any "significantly harmful noise and disturbance" to nearby residents.

A planning statement from agents Elias Topping states: "The proposal will help the regeneration of the centre by facilitating the occupation of a vacant unit. The vacancy rate in the primary frontage totals 16 units, representing over 17 per cent of the whole, suggesting the market remains very challenging, and tenants are hard to come by.

"The proposal will enable a successful business to modernise and continue to trade from a similar location and facilitate the implementation of an enhanced shopfront with a high quality of design (to be provided under a separate application)."