CANVEY should abandon its ambitions to be a tourist resort and focus on housing and business, according to the leader of Essex County Council.

In a controversial interview, Lord Hanningfield said Canvey’s strengths lay in the quality of its existing housing and developing new business.

He suggested the island’s caravan parks could be redeveloped for housing, despite an Environment Agency ban on building on Canvey.

He said: “I don’t think Canvey Island is ever going to be a real tourism district. What it can be is a residential area.”

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