How do these Essex areas want to spend their £20m?

Labour's Julie Young has represented Greenstead on Colchester City Council since 1998

Improved roads, sporting facilities and schools are high on the wish lists of people living in four areas of Essex set to receive £20m of government funding each.

Greenstead in Colchester, Laindon and Chalvedon in Basildon and Shoeburyness in Southend-on-Sea will all get £2m every year for a decade under the government's Pride in Place programme.

Julie Young, who represents Greenstead on Colchester City Council, said she "couldn't be more delighted".

"We know this will be a resident-led project so we are asking people to come forward to join those resident panels so we can really shape how this money is spent," she said.

Colchester received £18.2m from the previous Conservative government's Town Deal in 2022, of which Young said about £6m was allocated to Greenstead.

The Labour councillor said: "We need to tackle crime here, we need to tackle mental health problems, we need to tackle drug and addiction problems, we need to invest in our place – our pride of place.

"Parks, recreation, filling potholes, mending footpaths, cutting back overhanging foliage.

"All of those things need doing and they won't go away overnight, but with this money we can start to make a difference."

Maria Oshunrinade wants to see more homes and shops built in her area of Basildon

Labour councillor Jessica Power represents Laindon Park on Basildon Council. She said the authority would involve young people in the decision making process.

Maria Oshunrinade, a local solicitor, said she would like Laindon to be tidied up, "making it clean and healthy for us and for our children".

She said she would like to see the money spent on new homes, shops and better schools.

Lucy and Mark Woolven want local roads to be improved

Mark Woolven, a lorry driver, would like to see improvements to roads, pavements and street lighting.

"The pavements are terrible all the way around here, especially on our estate," the 57-year-old said.

His wife Lucy Woolven, a 44-year-old administrator, agreed: "It's like being on safari."

Several residents told the BBC they would like to see the money injected into the Laindon Centre, a former shopping centre currently being redeveloped.

When complete, it will include more than 200 homes, a supermarket and other shops, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Keith Davies, 73, complained about the length of time it was taking to complete the project.

The developer, Sanctuary, said it had made "significant progress" with the project.

Meanwhile, Thurrock is one of 95 areas that will get a one-off payment of £1.5m.

The government has said spending will only be approved if local groups are involved in deciding how the money will be spent.

The locations were selected based on a ranking of neighbourhoods using the Index of Multiple Deprivation and Community Needs Index.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed denied purposely not awarding funding to areas in Reform UK leader Nigel Farage's Clacton constituency.

Clacton-on-Sea and Jaywick, on the north-east Essex coastline, are among the county's most deprived areas.

"It was strictly based on deprivation criteria," Reed insisted.