A war of words broke out as final bids were submitted for the development of Shoebury barracks.

Only two of the five bidders short-listed for the proposed development of the site owned by the Ministry of Defence, have gone public with their plans.

While it was revealed this week that the Shoebury-based Lewis Harris Partnership intends to create a marina village on the site in a £50m development, rival bidder Brian Efde has criticised the plan and declared his own bid "the most Shoebury orientated".

Hockley-based businessman Mr Efde said that if successful, his bid to open a catering college on the site would bring more than 400 permanent jobs.

Other features would include a bowling and social centre, a 60 bed hotel and a badger and hedgehog sanctuary.

Mr Efde said: "It is the most Shoebury-orientated bid. Being that Shoebury is a very depressed area and has massive unemployment, I don't really see the people in Shoebury buying boats to leave on the marina.

"We are not going to build any shops other than craft shops on that site. There is no point in us having any shops in competition with local businesses."

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.