A PAINTER and decorator is helping to transform a coastal village one home at a time by giving properties a colourful make-over.

Mick Masterson, 61 of Jaywick, has long campaigned on behalf of his fellow residents and frequently strives to make the area the best it can be.

He is now embarking on a new venture with a view of improving the overall appearance of the Brooklands Estate, which sits in the heart of Jaywick.

In the past the neighbourhood has been rated the most deprived in the country and some of the former resort’s chalets have previously looked rundown or tired.

Mr Masterson is now on a mission to inject a new lease of life into the area by persuading some property owners to adopt his ‘Dapper Deco’ art style.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

The two homes the painter has redecorated so far incorporate colours such as a green, pink, orange and yellow and succeed in sticking out across the promenade.

He said: “I have done two so far and they are both a homage to the Art Deco period, which in my opinion combs colour and character into architecture.

“What has been very rewarding is all the passing tourists who have been stopping and taking photos of the properties.

“They have also remarked how spectacular and outstanding a Brooklands property can look – there is only one thing worse than being skint, and that is looking skint.”

Mr Masterson’s creative revamp tour of the Brooklands Estate has coincided with the approval of plans for a £2.4million covered market in the area.

The project includes 25 business units, a training room, café, public toilets, community garden and public realm works on the corner of Lotus Way.

Mr Masterson, however, has decided to speed up the process of rejuvenating Jaywick with his colourful and vibrant chalet make-overs.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

He added: “I read in the Gazette’s story about the market a report calling for the need to improve the ‘visual appearance’ of Jaywick.

“But the last wraparound project left the Brooklands Estate a blanched resemblance of its former saleable seaside semblance.

"This has made me realise that Jaywick, and specially the Brooklands, was built in the 1930s, the same time as Art Deco was just getting going.

"So, there is a heritage connection and my Dapper Deco style shacks in Jaywick are better looking than any beach hut in Frinton.”