Restoration work on Canvey's seafront may grind to a halt because of a shortage of funds, it emerged today.

Canvey 2000, the group behind a major transformation of the area, is now down to its last £5,000.

Nearly £100,000 has already been pumped into the seafront on items such as new Victorian street lighting, block paving and a water feature.

Now, chairman of the scheme, Dennis Williams, is urging people to get behind them and raise some more money.

He said: "If funds go, then we will have to stop work which will be sad. There will be no more money spent at the seafront between now and March, so we can go on a fundraising drive.

"In one sense we have been totally delighted with local companies coming along and doing things like installing the CCTV and working on the information centre for free.

"But at the same time we have been a little disappointed that the donations haven't been forthcoming over the last few months."

If the group is successful in its quest for charity status, it is planning to put a bid for £200,000 into the National Lottery.

Mr Williams added: "The lowest we have ever been down to before is about £20,000. When you have a buffer like that you can plan parts of the scheme you would like to tackle next.

"At the moment we cannot do that. We have really got to put it on hold until we can go out and get some money."

The group is in the process of planning a number of different fundraising events to try and boost its coffers.

Donations can be made to Canvey 2000 at the NatWest Bank in the island's High Street.

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