SOUTHEND United chairman Ron Martin and Southend City Council leader Tony Cox have agreed terms relating to the residential development of Fossetts Farm.

The deal had been the last major stumbling block in Justin Rees and his consortium completing their takeover of the club as it was a requirement for the Shrimpers to stay at Roots Hall under the new ownership.

The agreement is still subject to cabinet approval in early 2024 but there is now said to be sufficient confidence to proceed with the sale of the football club to the consortium.

The Echo has previously revealed that joining Australian Rees in the consortium are David Kreyling and Tom Arnold, the Founders of CSL Group which drives sport for social change, Hong Kong based hedge fund manager Jason Brown, John Watson, the owner of packaging and taxi businesses and Gary Lockett the chairman of the Southend United Community & Educational Trust.

They will be joined by the son of former MP Teddy Taylor, George who is a Hong-Kong based investor and is currently a director at Scottish Premiership giants Rangers.

And the Echo can now confirm Paul and Ian Redbourn are also part of the consortium.

The remaining work needed to complete the sale of the club to the consortium is procedural in nature and further updates will be provided when an exact date is confirmed.

The consortium have been funding the club in recent months and it was revealed at last week's Shrimpers Trust AGM that more than £500,000 has already been invested by the businessmen.

However, the Blues are still being hindered by a transfer embargo due to money owed to HMRC and the consortium have confirmed that their focus is on lifting the restrictions as quickly as possible.

The Shrimpers have been under the embargo since September 2022 and could only select one substitute for Saturday's 2-1 defeat against Bromley at Roots Hall.