WE’VE had easyJet, easyCar and even easyPizza, now easyCoffee is being served up in south Essex... and it’’s just £1.

Did you know Southend is the only place in the UK, outside of London, where you’ll can grab an easyCoffee shop.

Nick Paterson-Jones, easyCoffee’s brand director, says the firm chose Southend as its first area outside the capital due to its “buzzing High Street”, proximity to London, and, of course, the airport.

It’s bidding to draw shoppers in buy charging only £1 for an espresso, mocha, latte, cappuccino, flat white or just a plain americano.

The idea is brainchild of easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, in a bid to topple established chains such as Starbucks, Costa Coffee and Caffe Nero.

The firm set up shop in the High Street and following big interest, from franchise investors, the airline-owned chain is now set for an expansion of more than 200 branches in the next two years.

And it could be expanding across Essex, according to Southend store manager Natalia Bogdanowicz. She says it aims to target customers “grabbing coffee on the go.”

Echo: easyCoffee queue

She said: “Things have gone really well, and I still think people can’t believe we are charging a £1 for coffees... and making a profit.

“The other thing is that we use Lavazza beans in our coffee, so we’ve got a well known brand people like.

When you go into other coffee shops, you’ll expect to pay about £2.50 minimum for a standard coffee.

“Yet we charge less than half that for ours.”

Miss Bogdanowicz, 24, admitted that the company’s trademark orange and white colours has helped it stand out - and helped it make a strong start to life in Southend. She said: “People do come in and joke with us about buying a holiday from us.

“But ultimately having such a well-known brand has helped us, we stand out quite a bit even thoug h we are not the biggest shop.

“In the morning we get quite a few commuters and afternoons tend to be students and shoppers.”

Customer Ciaran O’Connor, 17, says he notice no difference in the taste of easyCoffee compared with Starbucks.

The student, of Merrylands, Laindon, said: “Friends at college kept telling me about it, so I thought I’d give it a try.

“From what I can taste there’s no difference at all.

“This is great value coffee.”