JAMIE Oliver’s aunt and uncle will open a new £200,000 cafe on Southend seafront within the next two weeks.

Mary Leggett, Colin Oliver, and Colin’s partner, Tina Gibbs, will open Olivers on the Beach, which will serve some of the celebrity chef’s dishes, in Western Esplanade, Westcliff.

Workmen are putting the finishing touches to the new venue, which replaces the dilapidated former KJ’s Kiosk, near the Genting Casino.

Colin, 50, of Church Road, Shoebury, said: “Mary and I are both feeling very excited about it and can’t wait to open.

“I just think it will be nice to have a new independent on the seafront and some lovely cooking and cuisine.”

Workmen have completely rebuilt the old kiosk, replacing the rotten old floor, adding new walls and a roof and changing the layout of the cafe.

A disabled toilet has been built and a new kitchen is being fitted at the moment.

Light grey cladding and signs at the front and side will be put up this week and the interior will be decorated with a seaside theme.

Colin, who has previously run the Chequers Inn, in Canewdon, and the Cherry Tree pub, in Rochford, said the decor of the cafe, which will employ ten to 15 staff, was inspired by beach huts.

The businessman plans to submit a planning application to expand the cafe with a decking area looking out over the sea in the next three months.

He said: “It might bring this end of the seafront to more prominence. Southend is really improving in a great way.

“The council is doing a really good job.”