Southend Council boss George Krawiec has hit out at the "sirens of doom" who put down the town rather than build it up.

He highlighted unemployment in the borough which has been cut from nine per cent seven years ago to 2.6 per cent currently.

Tackling unemployment was one of Mr Krawiec's first tasks when he was appointed as chief executive and town clerk in 1997.

Mr Krawiec, who will leave Southend in the next few months to become chief executive in North East Lincolnshire, said it was vital to press ahead with regeneration of the town.

He said: "In recent years, we have been able to gain a large amount of funding for the town which would not otherwise be available from Government and European sources.

"If we do not continue to go for anything which is available, then the town will stagnate and be hit as badly as it was in the last recession."

He added Southend had been hit badly by the last recesssion which had seen the closure or relocation of major businesses, because it had not been hit by the previous one.

He said: "There was an attitude from some people that we were invulnerable and could just carry on which was not the case, so Southend ended up suffering badly."

Mr Krawiec said there were concerns about the Customs and Excise jobs in the town which were under threat but he added he was hopeful the fears had been exaggerated.

He said: "I am optimistic there will still be a presence within the town from the new merged Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise."

Published Friday July 30, 2004

Brought to you by the Evening Echo