A TIDAL paddling pool has moved a step closer to being saved from demolition – if the town council can find the cash.

During an extraordinary council meeting called to discuss the future of the “old” pool on Canvey’s Concord Beach, Canvey town councillors agreed in principle to take over management of the seafront attraction from Castle Point Council, which wants to demolish it.

But it refused to make a firm commitment without getting its own figures for the upkeep of the pool.

The decision came after figures from the borough council claimed upkeep of the pool and surrounding beach area would cost £1,000 a week.

Councillors and campaigners ridiculed the figures, which also included £9,000 to import new sand to the beach and £5,000 a year to have the pool checked weekly during the winter months and daily during the summer.

Lea Swann, who runs the Concord Cafe on the beach and has led the Echo-backed Protect Our Pool campaign, said: “The figures are laughable.

“I’d love to see where the £1,000 a week is spent on the beach.”

The information, supplied by the borough council, also revealed the council had spent £5,000 on remedial work to the pool this year, including filling in gaps between concrete slabs around the edge of the pool and removing debris.

It revealed the town council would be liable for an annual licence fee of £2,000, payable to the Port of London Authority.

These costs would be on top of liability insurance for the pool, figures for which are not yet known.

The town council has an income of about £260,000 a year raised through council tax, but it can also apply for grants and lottery funding not available to the borough council.

Dave Blackwell, town councillor for central ward, cast doubt on the borough council’s figures.

He said: “It would have been nice if they had spent all this money. We would have the best beach in the South East.

“I would move we accept the offer in principle, subject to going out and getting our own costings.

“We need to know how much it is going to cost us as ratepayers.”

If the borough council transfers the management of the pool, it must fi carry out £58,000 of work to make it safe.

The transfer must be completed by the end of December, to give the borough council the chance to carry out the work over the winter.