EYESORE garages will be demolished to make way for a playground as security guards begin their patrols on a notorious Southend estate.

The garages in Coleman Street will be ripped down by January 30 before hundreds of residents on the Queensway Estate are then asked what they want to see there.

It is hoped that stakeboard ramps and small football pitches could be laid on for teenagers to curb antisocial behaviour, while patrols of the area have also started up.

Southend Council wants to completely regenerate the estate, which spans Southchurch Road to Coleman Street, and has set up a specialist team to look into what could be done.

However, the proposals, dubbed by senior officials as the biggest housing project the authority has undertaken, are not expected to be unveiled before the second half of 2015.

Labour’s David Norman, Southend councillor responsible for housing, said: “We are hoping to create something to give the children somewhere to play, and it will be focused on early teens.

“In the town centre, there is nowhere for that age range to play, that’s why you see skateboarders in Victoria Avenue.

“But we will be looking for the residents on the estate to guide as to what they want on the playground.”

The authority has yet to decide where the cash will come from for the playground, but they will start consulting residents for what facilities will go on there soon.

Community leaders on the estate will also do their bit by handing our surveys to ask residents what they want, with initial ideas including the creation of small astro turf pitches, an outdoor gym, and skateboarding ramps.

Mike Smith, who lives in Malvern House, one of the towerblocks on the estate, said: “They are an eyesore, people walking past the estate would have definitely noticed them, so it is good they are being knocked down.

“The news they will become a play area is even better, and we will see what residents want.

“We will do a survey and see what facilities are the most popular, there’s no point putting stuff in that youngsters don’t want.”

Later this year, the authority is expected to unveil a complete regeneration of the whole estate.

Radical ideas, such as filling in the Queensway dual carriageway that separates the estate, and knocking down the four tower blocks, have not been ruled out.