LONG-awaited work to stabilise a section of crumbling cliffs along Southend seafront will begin next month, council bosses have announced.

The section of Cliff Gardens, which will be the site of the new £40million cliffs museum, has been fenced off to the public since a huge landslip in 2002.

Contractors Balfour Beatty have been appointed by Southend Council to carry out stabilisation works. This will include building a retaining wall at both ends of the cliff, landscaping and removing excess earth, which poses a risk of slipping further.

Council officials hope the earth removed from the cliffs could be used to form part of the new sea defence barrier in Shoebury , however no formal decision has been made and would be subject to a formal consultation.

It is expected work will finish early next year and it is hoped the cliff area will eventually be opened to the public again. Brian Ayling, Independent councillor for St Luke’s ward, said: “Thank goodness work is finally starting. At long last the council is doing this work.

“It is essential it is done and it has to be done sooner rather than later, because there will be even more problems otherwise.

“There is a lot of concern from residents about this.

“If it is left any longer there is the risk of further slippage of land on to Western Esplanade.”

Following a long bout of heavy and torrential rain in June, nearby residents fear the land has become even more unstable. Mary Perkin, of Alexander Road, Southend, a member of the Clifftown Conservation Group, said she felt the cliffs had become an eyesore for the town. She added: “The council has had the money for the cliffs for a long time, but it didn’t do anything about it. “It has been saving up the money and it should now do the work because it has said it is a public safety issue.

“It looks so ugly now. People want something done with it because people use the cliff gardens all the time. It is such an important issue to the community.”

Andy Lewis, the council’s corporate director for enterprise, tourism and environment, said: “We have set aside £3.49million for the cliff slip remediation.

“A contractor has been appointed and is due to commence work early next month.

“They envisage completing the work early in the new year, after which the area of the cliff slip will be appropriately landscaped.

“Ultimately, the remediation work will provide the foundations for the proposed new museum, which recently received planning approval.”