A MAJOR refurbishment of a Southend hotel will be completed within two months, developers have vowed.

The Essex County Hotel, in Aviation Way, Southend, was bought by Leigh businessman Andreas Stavrinides for more than £2million last February.

The entrepreneur said the majority of a £500,000 internal revamp and rebranding of the hotel as The Skylark had now been completed and work on the finishing touches will begin soon.

“We are still on track to open in late July or August,” he said.

“As with any development, there are ups and downs, but we are going as planned as far as I can say.

“We’ve done all the interior work in the hotel and now it is about concentrating on the last things to do.”