A WIRELESS internet network could be rigged up across Southend, giving residents access to the web in their homes, on the road and even on the beach.

Southend Council’s Tory leadership has agreed to hook up the town by setting up a private company to sell internet access to residents and visitors.

Bosses envisage a wireless network eventually covering the entire borough, allowing users to log on to the web wherever they are. Nigel Holdcroft, the Tory council leader, said: “I think this could be extremely good for the town in terms of the benefits it will bring.

“It is a brave move and it shows this council is a forward-thinker.”

At the moment, internet access is only available through telephone connections.

Householders often connect their telephone socket to a router, which will then send out a wireless signal around their home.

Under the council’s plans, wireless emitters would be installed at strategic points around the town instead.

The move would allow customers to search the internet at any spot within Southend, including its beaches and parks, with their laptop, smartphones or tablet computers.

While paid-up residents would be able to surf the entire internet, visitors to town may be given limited access to the council’s website or other tourist information to find their way around.

Southend would be one of the first towns in the country to set up such a network.

Birmingham, Liverpool and Newcastle have all embarked on similar schemes, although their proposed networks only cover the city centres.

Bosses at Southend Council said the plan was to cover the entire town, but warned it could take a while to become a reality.

Sally Holland, the council’s corporate director for support services, said: “Our vision for the town is to be wireless enabled.”