Gloucester Park swimming pool would be the perfect home for a new art gallery, according to arts enthusiast Vin Harrop.

Mr Harrop, chairman of the Foundation of Essex Arts, described the pool building as "a post-modern masterpiece" which would make an ideal art space.

His group has been campaigning for the past eight years to establish a new gallery for Essex art and was now focusing on the problem-hit swimming baths.

Mr Harrop, of Rosslyn Road, Billericay, said: "The pool has wonderful light coming in.

We could have naturally-lit exhibitions, a workshop and maybe even a new library.

"It's certainly big enough."

Basildon Council has earmarked the park as the place where it hopes to create an £18million sporting centre of excellence.

But no firm plans have been made for the ageing pool itself, which is now costing the council a small fortune to heat and maintain.

Mr Harrop says he feels sure his idea would attract public support.

While an art gallery had previously been seen as the "dream of these weird artists", he now believed residents wanted art to play a vital role in regeneration.

He said: "There has been a change of heart in Basildon. People want art to drive the regeneration.

"Essex is not using artists enough to change its image. If we want a new image, I think the arts can do it."

Mr Harrop described Basildon's current exhibition space, in the Basildon Centre, as tiny and out of the way. He said a gallery in the pool building would be something of which the whole town could be proud.

A council spokesman conceded Mr Harrop had an "interesting idea", but said it was too early to say if his suggestion was feasible, as the future of the pool building would depend on wider sporting plan.

In the meantime, the council took every opportunity to stage exhibitions around the town, including showings in the Basildon Centre exhibition space and at Towngate Theatre.