A SAINSBURY superstore and 250 homes are planned for Southend United ground Roots Hall.

Meanwhile, the current Sainsbury store and car park in London Road, Southend, could be redeveloped as offices, homes, restaurants and bars as part of the town centre regeneration blueprint.

The announcement of plans for Roots Hall, off Victoria Avenue, ends speculation about how the football club will finance its move to new, larger stadium at Fossetts Farm.

Ron Martin, Southend United's chairman, said: "This proposal is a necessary requirement in facilitating the development of the Southend United's exciting new stadium at Fossetts Farm. If this is approved, it will be another major step towards enabling the club to develop a state-of-the-art stadium complex, which would help to put both the town of Southend and its football club on the map."

The Roots Hall redevelopment would comprise a superstore, 250 homes, petrol station and car parking. Plans for the new 22,000-seat stadium have been approved by Southend Council but face scrutiny at a public inquiry in September.

Sainsbury's regional development executive Robert Oxley said: "We're delighted to be involved in such an important scheme for Southend. In one move, we can be part of securing the future success of Southend United, bringing forward a key new mixed-use development at Roots Hall, and facilitate the enhancement of the town centre on our existing site."

The company is in discussions with regeneration agency Renaissance Southend regarding the London Road site.

Renaissance chief executive Mike Lambert said: "We have been aware for a little while that Sainsbury's wants to move to a bigger site.

"We have been very keen to enter into a dialogue with them to make sure that whatever gets put in its place will benefit the regeneration of that part of Southend.

"We would like to see some high-quality offices, residential and more of the food and drink establishments that are on that part of London Road already."

The Roots Hall plans will be on display at the London Road store between 2pm and 7pm on Friday and at the Shrimpers Bar at Roots Hall on Saturday between 10am and 4pm.

Residents' traffic fears

RESIDENTS around Roots Hall are weighing up plans to redevelop the site for a superstore, housing, petrol station and car park.

Some said they would welcome replacing the football stadium while others were concerned about increased traffic.

Kerry Wilkes, 23, a legal secretary, of Fairfax Drive, said: "I think it will cause problems with parking and it's bad enough round here as it is.

"If it's built it will be a lot worse than it is now. I'll probably end up selling up and moving away."

David McAlpin, 44, a caretaker, of Fairfax Drive, said: "I think it's a great idea. It will be nice and handy for the shops.

"It will save me travelling and Sainsbury's is my shop of choice. I'm not too worried about the extra traffic."

Waitress Fadime Dinc, 25, of Shakespeare Drive, said: "It's always good to have a shopping centre nearby. However, the kids play outside here quite a lot, so the added amounts of traffic could cause problems."

Jon Wan, 28, a graphic designer of Shakespeare Drive, Southend said: "It's bad enough having the football ground there as it is.

"I would quite like the road to be quiet. I don't think it will be a good change. There is a BP garage round the corner and cars already use this as a short cut, so it's bound to get busier."