Leigh has not been getting more new flats than other parts of Southend, according to its town clerk.

Southend needs to create an average of 300 new homes a year until 2021, to meet housing targets set by the Government.

During the past five years, 11 per cent of new flats granted planning permission in the borough have been for Leigh, which is home to 12 per cent of the borough's population.

That means a total of 170 new flats were approved for Leigh between January, 2002 and December, 2006 - an average of 34 a year.

Geoff Fulford, Leigh Town Council clerk, said this showed the increase in Leigh was roughly proportionate to its population.

He said: "People thinks it's a lot more, but this shows Leigh hasn't got any more development than the rest of Southend."

The figures were released at Leigh Town Council's planning committee meeting this week.

Mr Fulford said the number of successful applications for houses was statistically insignificant.

All of the 170 flats that were approved were on so-called brown sites. This means either houses have been converted into flats or existing buildings have been demolished to make way for them.

Southend is required to build 6,000 homes between 2001 and 2021, as set out in it the town's core strategy. There are now plans to increase this to 6,500.

Many authorities in the south east have been asked to provide extra housing as there is a severe shortage of new properties.