Developer John Cross was celebrating today after planners approved in principle his bid to turn a Leigh boatyard into a restaurant.

The controversial scheme to transform Mike's Boatyard into a 152-seater restaurant was given the go-ahead -- as long as a string of planning conditions can be agreed.

Mr Cross -- the man behind the plans put forward by Mirencliff -- was delighted after winning his five-year battle for building a restaurant in Leigh Old Town.

He said: "At last we can get going. Nothing is going to stop this now.

"The hope is to start work on the restaurant in February and have it finished later next year.

"I'm looking forward to next autumn and having something rather special in Old Leigh."

The approval paves the way to opening up the historic Strand wharf which was used as a boarding point for travellers to America on the Mayflower in 1620.

Mr Cross already had permission for a restaurant on Strand wharf, but talks last year helped develop the alternative scheme which finally won planning permission at last night's meeting.

Planning officers at Southend Council were expected to recommend deferring the proposal for Mike's Boatyard because of fears about landscaping around the restaurant, the external design of the building and the size of a new jetty deck over the Leigh foreshore.

Yet last minute discussions ironed out the technical objections before yesterday's meeting of the development control sub-committee.

However, Eastwood Tory Roger Weaver still urged councillors to refuse the scheme.

He said: "The parking is an important issue. It's a case of additional traffic moving through that area every day. Leigh residents have expressed a deep amount of concern."

Leigh Lib Dem councillor Peter Wexham pressed councillors to support the idea.

He said: "This is a great planning gain here --the gain of the historic Strand wharf which can be used by the public and people in Old Leigh again."

Council officers have to resolve a number of technical conditions and agree with Mr Cross for him to relinquish his 199-year lease on Strand wharf.

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