A controversial seafront contraflow cost Southend Council a total of £75,000, including £6,500 for traffic cones.

The new layout from Chalkwell to Adventure Island was designed to give visitors more space to walk at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now, costs of the contraflow scheme have been revealed following a report outlining the wider cost of the pandemic to the council - up to £3million per month.

Conservative leader, Tony Cox, quizzed senior officials at the policy and resources committee and asked where the cash was being spent and focussed specifically on the contraflow system in Western Esplanade.

Independent councillor Ron Woodley, who oversees transport, confirmed the barriers had been purchased and the £75,000 total included £44,000 to purchase 1,200 barriers, £6,500 to purchase 750 cones and £6,000 for new signs.

Other costs were linked to the work being carried out.

He said: “It would have cost us twice as much to hire them. We now have these for future use.

“In the past we have hired them but we took the decision that if we bought them, we would have them for events such as firework displays or for safety on the High Street.

“It was cheaper to buy them and this way we will have them a long while.” Mr Cox said it may have cost them double to hire the equipment but that means the council spent “£75,000 on a crackpot scheme rather than £150,000 on a crackpot scheme”.

He continued: “They are telling us they have a £20million black hole in the budget yet they have spent money on security guards for the contraflow, the cost of which is unknown, they have paid for barriers and extra signage and on top of that we have the lost revenue from the parking spaces which have been closed off.

“On average this could be costing half a million pounds if we include the lost revenue and it is all for a space nobody uses.”

Mr Cox also reiterated his concerns about the council’s failure to carry out a full safety audit, but this is not a legal requirement.

He added: “They created unsafe space where barriers falls down, there has been head on collisions between cyclists, we have people jumping railings and businesses have been prevented from opening, it is absurd."