Ambitious plans to create a £14,000 jetty are meeting fierce opposition from people living nearby.

The Island Yacht Club at the Point, Canvey, is looking to build a 45ft-long pontoon that would enable youngsters to take their boats out into a sheltered part of the estuary, where they could learn to sail in safety.

But local people are furious because the club had a historic concrete barge, built to help with the D-Day landings in the Second World War, demolished last week.

There are also fears that Roman remains believed to be in the area could have been destroyed when the last pieces of the old barge were cleared away.

Now residents are working to block the proposed jetty.

Paul Philips, 50, of Point Road, Canvey, said: "I am setting up a petition. A lot of people round here are against the plans to build a pontoon because we believe it will bring a lot of traffic and noise to the area."

Seventy-five-year-old Albert Payne, of May Avenue, Canvey, fears priceless Roman remains may have been destroyed.

He said: "It is very worrying. There could be the remains of Roman settling tanks, which they used to separate salt from the sea water, at the Point, which would be a major historic find."

A yacht club spokesman said the barge had been demolished because it was dangerous and an eyesore.

Published Wednesday, May 28, 2003

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