THE Shrimpers Trust insist they will not allow Southend United to be destroyed.

Blues are currently in the relegation zone of the National League after suffering four successive defeats.

But, in a strongly worded statement, the supporters group have spoken out about the club’s current predicament and the actions of under-fire chairman Ron Martin.

The statement said: “When is enough, enough? For some people this was many years ago, for some groups this was our elimination from the Football League, for some it is now!

“We are not going to allow OUR club to be destroyed and sit and watch its seemingly inevitable relegation to the Conference South or even worse, our complete extinction.”

Blues have suffered two successive relegations and have continued to struggle this time around, much to the annoyance of the Trust.

“The performances on the pitch have been nothing short of embarrassing recently, but this is not unique to this season, this group of players or this management team,” added the statement.

“There is clearly a deep rooted issue at OUR club which cannot be ignored.

“Perhaps the council should also shoulder some blame for allowing the stadium fiasco to continue for so long.

“Is the stadium and Ron's pot of gold ever going to materialise or are we being led down the garden path?”

And the Trust feel urgent action is needed.

“It seems Ron Martin is at the helm of OUR club whether we like it or not but it is also apparent that he is incapable of leading us out of this situation with the current structure at the football club,” said the statement, “We do not believe that Ron Martin has led us to where we are now intentionally, but we are here and action is urgently needed.”

Fans made their feelings clear during Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Solihull Moors.

But the Trust condemned Martin’s decision to head into the away end and confront fans chanting for him to quit the club.

“We strongly condemn Ron Martin's actions at Solihull Moors yesterday,” said the statement.

“They were ill advised and dangerous in a very hostile environment, and we are thankful that our amazing support were restrained from escalating the situation to one of violence.

“The actions taken by Mr Martin continued to diminish our image as a football club and we were quite frankly embarrassed.”

And the Trust now feel the playing side of things is no longer a priority for Martin.

“It seems to us that Ron Martin has focused on the new stadium at the expense of everything else and that must change otherwise there will not be a club to be in a new ground,” said the statement.

“He also needs to follow up on his promises in the last zoom call he undertook to respond quickly regarding ideas for giving the club tangible security in the new ground but to date we have not received any response despite chasing him.”

The statement which can be read in full here also confirmed the Trust will be having another monthly board meeting tomorrow where a plan of action will be discussed.

And they remain keen to unite all supporters.

“We are accountable to YOU and value your thoughts and contributions, they are wanted and needed,” added the statement.

“In our time of desperation and need, we must have an absolutely united fan base and will be working closely with other supporters groups to ensure this is achieved.”