A FORMER jockey and his wife have unveiled plans to open an equestrian centre including a vets in Layer Marney.

Alan and Paulette Coe, of Birch, plan to invest around £125,000 in the project which would see the centre created on six acres land they already own off Clears Road.

Services the equestrian centre would offer include training facilities for carriage driving and breeding services.

They also want to create a veterinary treatment centre for laminitis - an illness of horse hooves, and to site a mobile home for rural workers, plus have space for grazing land.

The centre also would see the existing commercial carriage business the couple run, Layer Marney Horse Drawn Carriages, relocated there and expanded.

Plans for the project have been submitted to Colchester Council.

Mr Coe, 40, said: "I grew up in Layer Marney and set up Layer Marney Horse Drawn Carriages 18 months ago.

"That's the main reason of our application.

"We are running it from the back of our house in Hardy's Green and haven't got a lot of room."

Mr Coe who is also a farrier and has six horses, added: "We just need the opportunity, we have maximised where we are."

The couple plan to sell their home to help finance the project so would live in the site's mobile home.

During the first three years the couple will be the centre's only staff but it is hoped further jobs will be created in the future.

If planning permission is granted, the centre could be up and running by the end of the summer.

A planning statement accompanying the plans says: "The proposed development will provide a base for a tourism and equestrian-related enterprise, which essentially requires a rural location."

Last year Mr Coe, who was an amateur jockey, raised more than £50,000 through a sponsored 24-hour carriage drive.

It was in aid of Olivia Coughlan of Black Notley who needed funds for a prosthetic limb after having her leg amputated because of a cancerous bone tumour.

He drove six horses in teams of two, 100 miles non-stop from the Hare and Hounds pub, in Layer Breton, to Fakenham Racecourse, in Norfolk.

Colchester Council has a target decision date for the plans of April 22.