NEW shops and offices could be coming to the heart of Basildon’s town centre.

Basildon Council has granted permission for small shops on the ground, second and third floors of the recently-reopened town square lift development.

The building currently houses a lift which takes shoppers up to a bowling alley, snooker club and the newly-opened Edge nightclub.

Steve Horgan, deputy leader of Basildon Council, believes more shopping options would be a good thing.

He said: “Having built a structure that contains commercial space, it makes perfect sense to maximise the returns to the Basildon taxpayers by letting it out.”

Work began on the lift in September 2007 and it opened in March.

The O’Connor Group was going to build the lift to replace the old escalator, but the recession hit the company and Basildon Council stepped in to finish the work.

Ice cream parlour Bella Rossi opened behind the lift building in August 2007, just six weeks before hoardings went up, all but blocking the shop from view.

It was inevitably a tough few years and manager Hannah Mara is now concerned about who might move next door.

She said: “We have seen a lot of people going in to view the space.

“A cafe or a restaurant would be bad news for us. We have only just got rid of the hoardings, which were really bad for business.”

Basildon resident John McNally, 60, of Northlands Park, gave a cautious welcome.

He added: “They are very small, but I suppose they could be used for offices.

“There doesn’t seem to be much point creating new shops – half the shops in the town are for sale or to let anyway.”

“The council would do better to lower the rates to attract businesses to the town.”