We live in one of UK's best seaside town - our troubled neighbour needs to copy us

Linda and Leslie Catling emotion surviving successful Leigh-on-Sea (Image: w8media for Daily Express)

A "wonderful" seaside municipality successful Essex which has kept its "charming" quality has a "can-do" tone that a fashionable edifice a fewer miles down the roadworthy desperately needs, locals person said.

Leigh-on-Sea is simply a 15 infinitesimal thrust from Southend-on-Sea but a satellite distant from the resort's hustle and bustle, according to radical who unrecorded successful the coastal town.

Vicky Tabiner, 49, has lived successful Leigh for 7 years and moved to the municipality to get retired of London. She hailed Leigh's schools, however harmless it is and its proximity to the capital, which is little than an hr distant by train.

Much of the town's colonisation enactment successful London and walk their wealth successful Leigh, dissimilar adjacent Southend-on-Sea, which takes somewhat longer to scope the superior by bid and has a workforce which is chiefly based locally.

Leigh boasts a fig of schools, including backstage school, St Michael's, autarkic Saint Pierre and West Leigh Junior School, rated "outstanding" by Ofsted.

The mean location terms successful Leigh was £454,228 implicit the past year, according to Rightmove, which said astir properties sold during the past twelvemonth were semis, selling for an mean terms of £479,145.

Vicky Tabiner wanted to determination retired of London truthful relocated to Leigh (Image: w8media for Daily Express)

Russell Campbell says determination are tons of originative radical successful Leigh (Image: w8media for Daily Express)

Locals successful the municipality were afloat of enthusiasm for Leigh connected a chilly November afternoon, hailing its taste scene, tranquility and bustling High Street.

Russell Campbell, 55, utilized to unrecorded successful Basildon, but has been successful Leigh for 8 years and loves the place. He said: "I similar the radical here. I similar the creation here, the music, and I similar that it's by the sea. I conscionable similar the full consciousness astir it. It's rather arty. The radical present are creative."

Mr Campbell hailed the town's wide prime of eateries arsenic well, recommending The Sandbar, The Greedy Breakfast, The Boatyard, Stop the World Cafe and the Crooked Billet pub.

Tom Darwood, 78, was visiting Leigh from his location successful Thorpe Bay. He said: "Leigh has a taste beingness which different towns similar Southend don't. It's a fantastic place. Some talented radical person emerged from here."

Tom Darwood says Leigh offers a affluent taste beingness (Image: w8media for Daily Express)

Paul Craig likes Leigh's proximity to the Essex countryside (Image: w8media)

This includes Dame Helen Mirren, who was brought up successful Leigh-on-Sea, and the author, John Fowles, who wrote The French Lieutenant's Woman and was calved successful the town.

Husband and wife, Linda and Leslie Catling, hailed Leigh's affable and sociable locals. Celebrated arsenic the "Banksy of Leigh" for her knitted postbox toppers, Linda, 78, said: "We perfectly emotion it. It's 1 of the nicest places we've lived in."

Leslie, besides 78, said the municipality tin get congested astatine times and feels much aggravated the person you get to Southend-on-Sea, Leigh's larger neighbour to the east.

Paul Craig, 74, from the Wirral, visits household successful Leigh. He described it arsenic a quiescent place, adding: "It's a interruption from home. I'm a Wirral squirrel. It's countryfied here. We're minutes distant from the countryside."

Consultant, William Bouverie, 81, said Leigh has managed to clasp its charm, portion different places haven't. He said: "It's ever been a bully place. It inactive has a nice, affable atmosphere. I've thing atrocious to accidental astir it."

Old Leigh boasts a picturesque formation which lies connected the Thames estuary (Image: Getty)

Mr Bouverie was speaking successful Broadway, Leigh's main buying thoroughfare, which dissimilar a batch of UK precocious streets is mostly escaped of large retail chains.

The way is lined with eateries, cafes and autarkic shops, including Crave Bakery, butcher's T. Harrison, The Fancy Fox Patisserie, Fives grounds store and florist's, Pom Pom, to sanction a few.

Lisa Spencer, Pom Pom's owner, said: "We emotion our autarkic High Street. It's vibrant, affable and creative. There's a beardown consciousness of community."

Leigh's retail connection appears to airy successful examination with Southend's, which locals and concern owners person said is a shadiness of its erstwhile self.

Anna Firth, the erstwhile Conservative MP for Southend West and Leigh, said "bustling" Leigh has kept its character, arguing its illustration could payment Southend.

She said: "It's a fantastic catalyst for autarkic shops, which is each portion of its charm... There's a existent pridefulness successful Leigh. People enactment present and put successful their properties.

"There's a large assemblage tone here. There are 2 thriving yacht clubs wrong 300 yards of each other. What truly helps is Leigh's can-do spirit.

"That aforesaid can-do, 'let's marque the astir of what we've got', tone is desperately needed conscionable down the roadworthy successful Southend."