FIFTEEN new beach huts will be built in Shoebury.

Southend Council has been granted planning permission - the last hurdle it had to clear - for the grand project on East Beach.

Chiefs have earmarked about £120,000 to build the huts, which they then hope to sell to beach-lovers for a substantial profit.

However, the scheme was nearly derailed by a concerted campaign which argued the new huts could not be reached by people in wheelchairs.

Speaking at the development control committee meeting at which planning permission was granted, Mike Assenheim, an Independent councillor for Shoebury, said: “These huts simply should not go ahead until this issue has been resolved.

“We have to do more to ensure people with disabilities are able to access them.

“To not have access is stopping them from even considering whether they would like to buy one of these huts.”

However, Roger Hadley, a Tory councillor for Shoebury, disagreed.

The huts will be built on a concrete strip at the head of the beach which was the foundation for a row of similar huts 30 years ago.

Mr Hadley said: “Beach huts have already been on that site, so it makes no sense to say they shouldn’t go back there.

“As it is, that concrete is a real eyesore and is rarely used by anybody.

“Let’s just get on with doing this and remedying that issue.”