ILLEGAL campers in Southend’s Cliff Gardens have forced one resident to look into selling his house.

Gavin Chambers said the continued presence of the homeless campers has meant he had resolved to put his Clifftown Parade home on the market in the new year.

Mr Chambers said a principal concern was the amount of rubbish left by the campers.

He said: “The council leader said he was going to sort this out but, since then, more people have moved in and there are about six tents there now.

“You do get drunks on the pathway here and there’s cans, glasses and rubbish there, and while one or two isn’t bad, this is much worse.

“They say there’s nowhere to go, but they’ve been offered housing and they haven’t taken it up, and I’m very worried about next summer if they keep coming.

“I’m probably going to put my house on the market and move Leigh way in the new year, because I can see this being an ongoing problem that isn’t going to get better.”

Council leader Ron Woodley, said in September the campers would be threatened with legal action if they did not accept help.

He said: “I’ve signed the necessary paperwork to have these people taken to court and be removed, because they are living in a very dangerous situation.

“That site is where the Alexandra Yacht Club was slipping on the cliffs and, with the cold weather coming in, there is no doubt in my mind they need to be moved.

“We have a responsibility to people’s health and safety, even if they are camping illegally.”

In September the authority said it had successfully moved 19 people from the illegal camp, 15 of which had been houses, reconnected with their local area, or were continuing to engage, but ten had resisted the offer of any help.