* The population of Leigh Ward reported in the Census 2001 is 9,015, with 4,231 men (47 per cent) and 4784 women (53 per cent).

* There are 4,460 households in Leigh and the majority are owner occupied (77 per cent), which is higher than Southend (73 per cent).

* Forty three per cent of households in Leigh ward are one person households compared with 35 per cent in Southend and 30 per cent in England and Wales.

* There is a lower proportion of married couples in Leigh, 27 per cent compared with 32 per cent in Southend and 37 per cent in England and Wales.

*Leigh also has a higher proportion of cohabiting couples than Southend (11 per cent compared to nine per cent).

* The health of residents in Leigh is good in comparison to Southend as a whole. Seventy one per cent of residents in Leigh descibed their health as 'good', compared with 67 per cent in Southend and 16 per cent have a limiting longterm illness in comparison with 19 per cent in Southend.

* There are 6,471 people aged 16 to 74 in Leigh, of which 21 per cent have no qualifications compared with 30 per cent in Southend and England and Wales.

* A higher percentage of people in Leigh (21 per cent) have a degree (or equivalent qualification) than in Southend as a whole (14 per cent) and England and Wales (20 per cent).

*Car ownership is about average in Leigh ward with 73 per cent of households owning at least one car compared with Southend (71 per cent ) and England and Wales (73 per cent).

* Many people travel to work by car (51 per cent either driving or as a passenger) and there is a relatively high proportion of residents that travel to work by train (22 per cent compared with 13 per cent in Southend as a whole and 4 per cent in England and Wales).