HOUSING bosses have admitted they have been “embarrassed” into tackling deprivation in Jaywick.

Jaywick, part of which has officially been listed as the most deprived area in the country, was featured on BBC One’s The One Show on Wednesday.

The show focused on the on-going regeneration plans, which have seen £5million invested in roads as well as blueprints for new homes.

Paul Price, Tendring Council’s corporate director, said the area has been ignored for too long by successive councils and Governments.

“I think it has become an embarrassment to all the councils and to central Government,” he said.

“We have now decided to take a different approach.

“It’s a shameful position to be in, but we are determined to do something – we want new homes, good roads, good infrastructure.

“That will bring in things like the schools, the shops, the medical facilities, that people desperately need.”

The One Show’s Fiona Foster said the once-thriving resort had “fallen into a sad and sorry decline”.

“I must admit on a cold November day there are pockets of it that are a bit depressing; boarded up shops, a lot of potholes,” she said.

“In fact, altogether the place reminds me a bit of a faded 1950s beauty queen, who hasn’t aged very well, but the seascapes here are lovely.

“While undoing decades of decline may take years to achieve you do get a sense that the winds of change are at last blowing some much needed optimism Jaywick’s way.”

Community planner Jim Boot, who has been credited with helping to turn around other seaside towns including Hasting and Eastbourne, has been employed using £8,000 of Lottery funding to help Jaywick plan for the future.

He said: “It’s a huge responsibility. Although we were asked to do this by the residents they were also supported by Tendring Council, Essex County Council, ad the Environment Agency.

“And they have all said they really want to hear what the residents are after – and we will work to that plan.

“You can never be sure, but this process works. It has worked in plenty of other communities.

“There’s no reason why, with the right people around the table, that it can’t work here as well.”