A new TV series which will feature Southend will be broadcast from tonight. 

The five episodes of Susan Calman's Grand Week by the Sea will be shown on Channel 5 at 8pm each night this week. 

Each one will feature a different seaside resort, with Southend the main focus on tonight's show following a change to the listings.

The hour-long epsiode will see Susan have a go at making some ice cream, spend some time on the iconic pier, join a lifeboat crew on a training exercise and try to run her own five-star guest house.

She will also be chatting to Birds of a Feather star Linda Robson about why she loves coming to Southend. 

Traders in the town say they are hopeful the series will help to promote Southend and encourage visitors to spend their summer holidays here this year. 

During the series, Susan will also be visiting Great Yarmouth on the Norfolk coast where she joins a synchronised swimming performance and learns the secret of how to get letters inside a stick of rock.

She will also travel to Brighton to enjoy a game of beach volleyball, St Ives brings seal spotting and Blackpool is bingo heaven.