A vacant shop in Hamlet Court Road is set to be transformed as plans have been given the green light.

The Westcliff site, with residential flats above, was once a Coral betting shop but has been vacant for a few years.

Summercare is now set to transform the empty shop into a day care centre for adults with learning disabilities.

The care service is currently based in Ceylon Road but submitted the proposal to Southend Council after looking for a new premises to move the day care centre to.

The outside will remain the same but the shop will be revamped internally to accommodate "suitable facilities" for the centre.

In a statement submitted with the plans, the applicant said: "Summercare’s principal aim is to enable adults with learning disabilities to lead full and purposeful lives through a person centred planned programme of activities, social vocational, educational and leisure."

Southend Council has now approved Summercare's plans, but a noise impact assessment must be conducted.

The centre will be open 9am to 6pm Monday to Saturday.

There will be about four to five employees and the number of clients will be between 10 and 16.