UP to 20 beach huts could be built on the front at Shoebury and then sold off to raise money.

Southend Council is looking to build the huts on a concreted area of East Beach after a plan was put together by Shoebury ward Conservative councillor Roger Hadley.

He hopes the scheme will generate much-needed income for the area. The council will pay for the huts before selling them off to private owners with ground rents added on top.

It is thought the arrival of beach huts could give Shoebury a Thorpe Bay feel, but other councillors and some residents are concerned too much is being done to the beach.

However, Mr Hadley hopes people will get behind the plans.

He said: “I don’t think the huts will affect anyone using the beach as they will be on the concreted section.

“I think it will give the beach a much better look as well by brightening up the whole place.”

Independent councillor Anne Chalk has her concerns.

She said: “Access onto East Beach is already problematic for some. If these huts are put there then it will cause more issues for the disabled, dog walkers and people with children wanting to walk along the beach.

“East Beach is quite narrow and already pretty crowded with groups like the kite surfers using the beach along with the barbecue area being there.

“Overall I think if they want to build the huts, they have to make sure there is enough room for everyone using the beach.”

Louise Wilcox, 44, of High Street, Shoebury, added: “I think the general feeling around here is that they should leave the beach as it is because people do enjoy it.

“It feels to me by putting a big car park at one end and the kite surfers at the other, they are just trying to cram people in the middle.”

Mike Gray, manager of Dedman Gray estate agents, said the beach huts could fetch up to £20,000.

He said: “There certainly is a demand for beach huts at the moment as there always has been. Obviously, like most property markets, trends do occur over time with the popularity of huts, but at present there is a lot of interest for beach huts.

“At one of our last auctions in June this year, a beach hut fetched nearly £5,000 more than our estimate.”