A crunch meeting next month will decide the fate of South East Essex College's £55 million relocation plans, it emerged today.

The Further Education Funding Council will look in detail at the ambitious bid to build a new state-of-the-art base in the heart of Southend town centre.

It has been asked to boost the project with an £18 million handout.

The college has joined forces with property company, Martin Dawn, to spearhead the scheme which is linked to a new shopping centre on the former Odeon cinema site.

Chief executive Tony Pitcher has been lobbying the funding council to secure the vital cash but there is no guarantee the application will succeed.

He stressed: "This is not a foregone conclusion.

"We are talking about a great deal of money. If it is approved, it will be the largest project the council has ever financed."

Mr Pitcher said the new building would create a centre of learning excellence in south Essex.

If the project did not go ahead, it would have major implications for the future of the college and the whole town, Mr Pitcher insisted.

He said the link with Essex University would be in jeopardy, the opportunity for major investment in part of the town centre would be lost and in the long term, the existing college would suffer.

Southend's chief executive and town clerk George Krawiec said the project must succeed.

He said: "A university presence in south Essex is vital for the well-being of the area.

"It is disappointing that south Essex does not currently have one higher education establishment. A university brings presence, a great buzz to a town."

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