CANVEY’S Jewish community is set to expand its base on the island further by building a block of flats for teachers and staff.

In 2016, the Charedi community purchased the former site of Castle View School, and has now submitted plans to Castle Point Council to build a three storey block containing nine flats in place of a former caretaker’s house.

The community initially used the building for prayer, but registered it with the Department for Education as a faith school.

The community operates the site for educational activities with roughly 35 places providing education for both children and adults, as well as a minyan - an area designated for prayer.

Joel Friedman, 32, community leader, said it will help with the work to connect the Jewish community with the rest of the Canvey communities.

He said: “We are a growing community and work with other people in the area.

“It will help our continued worked to integrate into the island communities.

“We bring diversity to the island and I hold talk events with different people on the island about our community.

“It is definitely part of the bigger picture and work we are doing on Canvey.

A community of Hasidic Jews have been moving to the island over the past 18 months from North London.

It is understood that a family of philanthropists paid £1.75million for the former school building, which closed five years ago, and its attached playing fields.

The Charedi population said that they could no longer live just in Stamford Hill, known for having the largest concentration of Jews in Europe.

The community looked at other areas, including Harlow and East Tilbury, but Canvey’s community spirit, the vacant school site, and its proximity to London, proved the clinching factors in setting up on the island.

Despite some initial teething problems, which saw some hostility between residents and the Jewish community, members insist they have settled well into the island.

While recently, Minister for Faith, Lord Nick Bourne of Aberystwyth, visited the island on Thursday to meet the Jewish community as part of his faith tour, to discuss how they have integrated into the community since their move in 2016.

He praised the island’s “live and let live” attitude, insisting it sets a great example of community integration.