THE ONGOING saga surrounding the sale of The Royals shopping centre continues with no end in sight.

The Southend shopping centre is listed on the market for £13.42 million.

Savills, who are facilitating the sale on behalf of Cromwell Property Group, previously said the finalisation of sale was just ‘weeks away’ – that was on July 28.

Over four months later, and a deal has yet to be finalised; when approached the real estate firm declined to comment on the pending sale.

Southend Council is keen for a deal to be struck to secure the long-term future of the centre and provide an economic boost to the town centre.

“It is a private transaction which doesn’t involve the council,” explained councillor Ian Gilbert, leader of the council.

“Having said that, I hope that a deal goes through in order to safeguard the long-term future of the centre and the council would be happy to speak to either party to discuss their plans regarding the sale."

He added: “The Royals is in a key position at the top of Pier Hill so we are very keen to make sure it does well.

“We obviously want to see all parts of the high street recover and grow following the damage done by the pandemic. All retail has been struggling over the past few years, high streets up and down the country have had a tough time. “

The retail sector, and especially shopping centres with large overhead costs, were hit hard by the pandemic as customers were kept from stores by successive lockdowns.

Just this month the owners of the Eastgate shopping centre in nearby Basildon entered into administration, almost seven years after purchasing the centre for more than £88 million.

Eastgate management insist the shopping centre will continue with “business as usual” despite the financial struggles of its owners.

Meanwhile, Victorie Shopping Centre in Chartwell Square has seen a boost in visitors after non-urgent blood tests were moved from Southend Hospital to the centre.

Recent figures show that the numbers in Southend town centre are returning to pre-pandemic levels at the weekend, but still fall below during the week.