BOSSES at South Benfleet and Canvey Bowling Club have been given permission to rebuild their rundown 65-year-old clubhouse.

Castle Point Council approved an application to demolish the clubhouse on South Benfleet playing fields, off Brook Road, and a green metal storage container.

They will be replaced with a timber shed and a larger clubhouse with a main club room, toilet and changing facilities, kitchen, bar, and conference room.

The revamp will cost about £160,000.

Patricia Webb, 63, of Southcliff, Benfleet, has been a club member for 20 years.

She said: “It’s great news.

“The old clubhouse has been there since the club was established in 1945 and it’s become pretty run down.

“We’ve patched it up and extended it a little bit over the years, but it really does need to be rebuilt.”

She added there will be space in the new larger clubhouse to play short mat indoor bowls.

This means members will be able to play bowls all year round, not just in the summer on the main bowling green.

Dave Starkey, club captain, said: “The old clubhouse is falling apart.

“There are cracks in the walls and the floor is on its last legs.

“At the moment, whenever we try to have indoor bowling, the balls go all over the place because of the warped floor.”

The existing clubhouse measures 13m by 12m, with a pitched roof and toilet block on one side.

The replacement will be 30m by 9m, with decking on the front facing the bowling green.

The club, which has around 150 members, originally wanted a brick clubhouse, but this would have been too expensive so it is opting for a timber-framed building.

The outside walls will be made from stained timber.