Southend United's owner Ron Martin has moved to calm any panic at Roots Hall, following Blues' latest planning setback.

Mr Martin's Billericay based development company, Martin Dawn plc, have asked Southend Council to defer their proposal for a 16,000 all- seater stadium at Fossetts Farm on the outskirts of town.

Later editions of yesterday's (Thursday's) Echo revealed that Mr Martin's firm has pulled out of this month's planning meeting with the council on Wednesday, June 27, when a final decision was expected to be made on Blues' relocation plans.

The Shrimpers supremo claimed today that his company needed more time to assess the content of its project, which will also include a leisure and retail park, despite the application having already sat with the council for 11 months.

"All we are trying to do is ensure our proposal is complete before we put it back into the public domain," said Mr Martin.

"The last time we met the council three months ago we were asked to provide further information about the Fossetts Farm plan. And since then we have been trying to determine the mix of the development.

"There are other new facilities earmarked for this area as well as the football ground. But we need to find out if there is demand in Southend for a new multiplex cinema or bowling alley, for example.

"All of this takes time and the most important thing is that when the plans go before the council again that all the parties involved are happy with their content."

Mr Martin would not confirm just when the plans for Blues' new £12 million home would be re-submitted.

"All we are concerned about is the benefit of the football club," added Mr Martin. "We need to know that when the plans are finally accepted they will ensure the longevity of Southend United and its survival."

But this latest delay is just another kick in the teeth for a football club that is running out of time.

The Third Division club are some £4m in debt and are expected to lose another £500,000 this financial year.

When Martin Dawn took control of Blues at the end of 1998 they said plans for a new stadium would be lodged with council chiefs by the summer of 1999.

However, the Fossetts Farm proposal never fell through the council's letterbox until July 2000 and is still nowhere near being resolved.

The major stumbling block has been Martin Dawn's failure to buy the 80 acre site from their Billericay based property rivals Lansbury Limited, who own 90 per cent of the land.

And although noises have been made about Southend council putting compulsory purchase orders in place, it is thought the local authority are far from keen on taking such drastic action.

It is also believed that Martin Dawn's joint venture partners in the Fossetts Farm development, Delancey Estates, who bring the financial muscle to the operation, are growing increasingly frustrated with the stalemate.

More importantly, the Shrimpers have just 21 months left of a four-year lease on Roots Hall and face becoming homeless at the end of this period.

Southend's ground was sold off for £4m in March 1999, making Blues tenants of their spiritual home at a rent of £400,000 a season, plus interest, which is currently being accrued by Delancey.

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