THE leader of Essex County Council has called for the Government to invest much-needed cash to help regenerate a coastal town considered to be one of the most deprived in Britain.

THE leader of Essex County Council has called for the Government to invest much-needed cash to help regenerate a coastal town considered to be one of the most deprived in Britain.

Jaywick, near Clacton, was recently highlighted as the third most underprivileged area in the country but looks set to miss out on its share of £500m Government funding.

Council leader Lord Hanningfield has accused Whitehall of failing to tackle the urgent needs of the coastal community.

The regeneration money is designed to help cut crime levels, improve educational achievement and boost job opportunities.

Lord Hanningfield said: “I am staggered that somewhere named as the third most deprived area in the country, after inner city areas of Liverpool and Manchester, cannot be eligible for a fair share of this money designed in the Government's own words to 'improving the lives of people in our most deprived communities'.

“I call on the Government today to use our money to restore the heart of communities, such as Jaywick, which really need it.”

Roy Smith, an independent county and district councillor who has represented Jaywick for the past 40 years, said: “In nearly 40 years on the council none of the parties have done anything here. It's been most disgraceful that something needs to be done to ensure that we have an improvement in the quality of life.”

Government's statistics on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation put Jaywick in 102nd place in 2006 but the latest figures, from 2007, placed the town third on the list - showing that problems had worsened significantly.

The 2007 statistics revealed that 43.7% people were “economically inactive” in Jaywick, compared to 26% in Tendring as a district and 24% for the whole of Britain.

More than one quarter of the town's population claim incapacity benefit - a rate that contrasts starkly with the 8.8% average across Tendring and a national rate of 7.2%

The research also showed that the number of young people not in education, employment of training was much higher than the national level and house prices were less than a third of the UK average.

Lord Hanningfield said the council was committed to working with the community to improve the lives of the people living in Jaywick and, with other partners, was looking for solutions for the regeneration of the close-knit neighbourhood.

The Department for Communities and Local Government declined to comment on the issue.