Brightlingsea Town Council has responded to critics who called the new £100,000 jetty at the Hard a "vanity project with no real purpose" and "a total waste of money".

The floating jetty, which is part of the council's Heritage Quay plan, was installed last week and has left many residents on local social media angry and puzzled about its cost.

Some of the concerns raised on the Official Spotted: Brightlingsea Facebook page read that the “money could have been spent elsewhere” or “on a ferry landing stage at point clear so buggies and wheel chairs can use the foot ferry to point clear”.

Disappointed residents have also called for the council to “get better sand down the beach and get the bottom cafe open”.

Following a request to John Carr, the councillor managing the project, the council issued a statement explaining that most of the cost of the jetty has been met by an EU fisheries fund secured just before Brexit and the money couldn't be spent elsewhere.

The statement from the council said: “The fund that the team identified had a specific use, application to that fund was within the remit of that specific purpose.

The funding allowed us to apply for a facility that would make improvements to safety and working conditions of landing sites in Brightlingsea. “

According to the funding criteria, the jetty could only be used by commercial fishing boats at the moment in a "safe and secure COVID-19 free environment".

The facility will be open to the public for “community heritage tourism” such crabbing and paddleboarding once all COVID restrictions have been lifted.

The council has also responded to comments questioning the position of the new facility: “The area the pier is in, to the west of the Dolphins, was in past years an area where barges would lay up for repair or other reasons.

“In the second world war the Royal Navy identified the area suitable to maintain MTB boats so built the concrete grid.

“The reason to build the new structure in this area is so that we can make use of the historic concrete grid.”

The new jetty is part of Brightlingsea council's £100,000 plan for a ‘heritage pier’.

The project includes £75,000 of grant money from the European Union, subject to conditions, along with a £25,000 contribution from the town council.