PLANS for residents to club together to buy Mersea businesses have been shelved after a lack of interest.

A 20-acre site in East Mersea, consisting of a shop, restaurant, post office and allotment, is up for sale for £495,000 by Romford Management.

Resident, Peter Mann, started a stakeholder group appealing for residents to pledge money to help buy the site and keep it in Mersea hands.

But the scheme has been scrapped after just seven months and with just £65,000 was raised.

Mr Mann has blamed the “apathy” of residents.

He said: “There has been a general apathy on the island. If we don’t have the money there is not a lot we can do.”

For full story see tomorrow's Gazette.