CAMPAIGNERS say they are finally poised to quit the Camp Bling protest site in Southend after five years.

They spoke after Southend Council made it clear the Priory Crescent road widening scheme has been abandoned because of the Government’s failure to give the project the go-ahead.

Instead, Anna Waite, Southend councillor responsible for roads, has secured £5million from the Government for a project to ease congestion at the Cuckoo Corner roundabout, but this would have no effect on Priory Park and avoids the widening of Priory Crescent.

Shaun Qureshi, Camp Bling spokesman, said “We have held a meeting and will be getting in touch with the council to seek a meeting with Mrs Waite. I am hopeful this will allow the whole issue to be resolved once and for all and we will be able to move off the site.”

He added: “We also want to reiterate to the people of the town when we move off the site, we will then restore it to its original condition.”

In an open letter to Camp Bling spokesman Shaun Qureshi, Mrs Waite said the widening of Priory Crescent is not proceeding.

Mrs Waite said the council has plans for a memorial to the Saxon king on the site of Camp Bling, where the burial tomb was found in 2003.

She added: “As soon as the incumbents move out we will fulfil our promise to provide a quality commemorative garden for the Saxon King on this burial site.

“I say this genuinely in the hope the situation can now be resolved and the site will be vacated.”

The environmental campaigners set up camp on the site after the discovery of the grave of a Saxon King during preparations for widening the road.

The tomb, presumed to be that of King Saeberht, is believed to date back to AD630.

Valuable grave goods, including gold jewellery and a gold belt buckle, earned King Saeberht the nickname, King of Bling.

Archaeologists, who spent months secretly digging at the site, suspect the man was probably buried in the 7th century and had strong links with the nearby St Mary’s Church.