Southend Council has pledged to do everything within its power to keep the town's annual cricket festival.

Cabinet member in charge of leisure, Tony North, made the comment after news that Southchurch Park could be dropped from the county club's fixture list next season.

Mr North said: "It would be a very sad day if we were to lose the cricket festival at Southchurch Park and obviously we will do all in our power to ensure that it continues in the future.

"The cricket festival is a major part of the social scene in Southend and people even plan their holidays around it. It is also an important factor in bringing extra tourism into the borough."

But the cricket club's chief executive David East has criticised Southend Council, claiming only Colchester has shown any interest in retaining county cricket outside of Chelmsford.

"We have no wish to end our festival cricket and we are currently involved in very positive talks with Colchester Council," he said.

"We are also having talks with the Southend and Ilford councils, but Colchester is the only one showing any real interest at this time."

Published Wednesday August 28, 2002

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