A SEAFRONT shelter destroyed by a fire, believed to have been deliberate, has wrecked a treasured part of Southend’s heritage.

The blaze tore through the oldtime shelter, opposite the Castle pub, in Eastern Esplanade, Southend, in the early hours of Thursday.

It is understood the shelter was one of the last of just a handful of the traditional shelters based along the seafront.

Dave Bradford, 58, from Eastern Esplanade, said he slept through the incident. He said: “When I woke up at 6am I looked out my window and just thought ‘oh my God’.

“For it to have gone up like that, it had to have had an accelerant on it, it’s not like it burnt completely just from a little piece of newspaper of something.”

A Southend fire crew attended the scene. A spokesman from the fire service said: “It was a wooden shelter that was completely alight. They recommended that it was deliberate and reported it to the police.”

Peggy Dowie, of Shaftesbury Avenue, Southend, who is chairman of the Southend Pier Museum, is devastated it has been destroyed.

She said: “We were only talking about it the other day and how a shame it was all the other shelters have gone. The shelter suits the beach and the seafront. We wondered how long it would be there.

“ I am gutted myself. I don’t want to go out and look at it because it’s so terrible and it might bring me to tears. It might be vandals, I don’t know but it has to be deliberate.”

Martin Terry, independent ward councillor for Thorpe, is calling for the council to restore the shelter.

He said: “It has been a popular spot and they are part of the seafront, part of our heritage and what Southend is about.

“There are a handful left and they should be looked after. The shelter should be restored by the council.”

Ann Holland, councillor responsible for culture, tourism and the economy, says they hope to replace the shelter.She said: “It is shocking that what appears to be an act of mindless vandalism has seen one of our beach shelters burnt out and completely destroyed.

“Our intention is to replace this shelter for the public to enjoy, although we do not have an exact timescale at this early stage. “