COUNCIL chiefs have demanded action over a former petrol station site which has been left to rot for nearly a year.

The owners of the plot, located at the junction of Queens Road and Eastwood Road, Rayleigh, have been served with a summons and will be taken to court if the land is not tidied up.

Ward councillors say it is an eyesore, which blights the area, and have called for urgent action.

Rochford District councillor Tony Humphries said rubbish is piling up at the site, which is encouraging rats.

He said: "This has been going on for almost a year and needs to be sorted. There has been an application to put a carwash there, which hasn't gone ahead yet. Since then the site has been left idle without any activity.

"Rubbish has been piling up and I'm frequently on at the council to try and get it to take action.

"The problem is it takes a long time to try and get these things sorted out because you have to go through the right channels.

"There is another problem as well, because this is one of several filling stations that has closed recently and there is proving to be a shortage."

Council officers have asked the owners of the site, Kilosign, to clear it up, but have had no response.

The next step, which has been taken this week, is to file a courts summons to the owners. If the land is still not cleared up council contractors can do the work and charge the owners.

Shaun Scrutton, head of planning and transportation at Rochford Council, said: "The council has served an untidy sites notice on the owner of the site and is in the process pulling together instructions to our legal people.

"Clearly it is less than satisfactory in terms of its appearance at the moment."