A NEW cafe could soon be opening in an old toilet block on Canvey.

The derelict block, on the Thorney Bay side of the seafront, has been out of use for years.

Castle Point Council owns the Western Esplanade building and has agreed a 25-year lease to Canvey resident Barbara Power, who plans to turn it into a healthy eating cafe.

Ms Power said: “We used to walk our dogs and ride our bikes along that section of the seafront and always said it would be lovely to have a café at that end.

“The council had handed it to an estate agent, so we had a look around.”

Once a deal was struck, going down the healthy-eating road was easy, according to Ms Power.

“My partner has had four bypasses and I’m diabetic, so we have to watch what we eat,” she explained.

“The food will be healthy – it won’t be a greasy spoon.

“We want to have sandwiches, salads and paninis in the day and then from 5.30pm to 7.30pm we’d serve fajitas, salmon and pastas.”

The new café has already been granted planning permission and steps are being taken to meet the conditions laid down by planning inspectors.

Conditions include a requirement for the new owners to allow public access to toilets in the building.

Ms Power is ready to open the café almost immediately.

She said: “We have already bought everything to go inside. I can’t wait. It is going to be lovely.”

The council has welcomed the plans, which fit into their aim to regenerate the seafront area.

Castle Point council leader Pam Challis said: “The building has been empty for some time and it would be fantastic to see the community making good use of it.”

“We have also leased the former degaussing station, which is next to this block, and the plan is to turn that into a military museum.

“Providing the detail meets the requirements of the planning system, we could end up with two great new community facilities very soon.”