A thriving pre-school has taken a step towards survival as it battles against moves to evict it from its home of 30 years.

The Johnstone Road Pre-School in Thorpe Bay has submitted a planning application to allow it to carry on using a church - even though enforcement action has already started.

Children and staff have been ordered by council officials to leave the church they had occupied for three decades after a planning violation was discovered.

The complicated dispute is centred on whether a pre-school is a normal activity to be held at a church - a situation branded a "trivial technicality" by pre-school staff.

Southend Council claimed it had no choice but to serve the enforcement notice because the pre-school, based at Thorpe Bay Methodist Church in The Broadway, was not complying with regulations.

An appeal by the group against the council's decision is now being considered by Government inspectors.

However, the church's senior steward Paul Leech has since submitted an application to Southend Council to relax a condition which prevents them using the church.

He said: "We were told by the council we were in breach of regulations, and asked to apply to have them lifted.

"But just as we were trying to find out what we should do, we were suddenly faced with a notice telling us to get out."

It is presently unclear according to the group - and the council - whether the current appeal will collapse if the application is approved, and the group can continue as normal.

John Collins, Southend Council's development control group manager, said: "A condition restricting use was put on the site to guard against nuisance for neighbours.

"We asked the church and pre-school to apply for it to be changed. But they never did.

"If they were allowed to continue without applying for an exemption then the church could be used for potentially more noisy and disturbing activities."

Seven letters were sent to the group between October 1998 and July 1999 requesting the application - but nobody wrote back, he said.

He added: "Of course, we have nothing against the school itself. But eventually we had no choice but to serve the notice."

The present application will be considered by the council, but officers still have to receive advice on whether the on-going appeal to Government inspectors will affect it in any way.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.