Described as a "whelk on the wall" documentary, Southend is exposed on national TV tonight at 10.30pm with the first episode of Trippers.

Throughout this summer Anglia TV have been filming the seafront and the characters responsible for welcoming more than three million visitors each year.

Now you can see what they made of the playground of Essex during a six-part series screened on Anglia and Meridian every Friday.

A spokesman for Anglia TV said: "Our lenses zoom in on six local characters, following their efforts to ensure day trippers and locals enjoy their stay."

Adventure Island owner Philip Miller can be seen sweeping up and informing the viewers he was born under a hotdog stall in the old Kursaal!

Nightspot supremo Dick de Vigne and manageress Anita Freeman of Southend's latest nightclub Storm are captured with opening night jitters. "I've got this big theory," Mr de Vigne tells the cameras, "that people in Southend turn up to see me fail!"

Leigh's Mandy McElligott balances raising a family with her job as a waitress at Storm. "I thought I'd grown out of nightclubbing," she confides to the camera. "But at the moment I can't imagine ever doing that."

Southend Council's special events organiser Lisa Tidder hopes the Air Show takes off smoothly, despite last-minute hiccups: "We're a little bit less organised than last year, but it'll be really smooth on the day."

Featured prominently in the second episode will be Deckchair Bob, who runs the deckchair concession on the seafront. He is Bob Warner, who has run the concession for 10 years as the Shoebury-based Southend Deckchair Company.

He tells the camera: "It must be the only job in this country where I go up and take money off of them and they take their clothes off!"

Anglia are still recording for the series. If you fancy getting on the TV the cameras will next be at Yates's Wine Lodge, London Road, and then Storm Nightclub, Elmer Approach, on Saturday, July 31!

Stars for a day - Nightclub director Dick de Vigne, waitress Mandy McElligott, deckchair company boss Bob Warner and club manager Anita Freeman all appear in Trippers, Anglia TV's fly-n-the -wall documentary about Southend's day tripper business.

It starts tonight (Friday) at 10.30pm on Anglia and Meridian and runs for six weeks

Pictures: ANGLIA TV

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