THURROCK Council has approved a storage and distribution centre in the heart of Grays that its developers say will create 65O jobs.

The council's planning committee gave the green light for the 34-acre development at the Titan Works site in Titan Road, Grays.

Following demolition of current buildings on the site, the centre, which will be in operation 24 hours a day and will house a mix of industrial businesses in 28 units.

A spine road will serve the units and a pedestrian and cycle route will be formed linking to Titan Road and Grays Town Centre.

The proposal, which was recommended for approval by planning officers, includes a mix of small to medium sized units from 7 metres to 15 metres for start-up business as well as two large units.

At the recent planning committee meeting where approval was granted, Cllr Paul Arnold supported the scheme but raised concerns about the impact on the roads.

How the site will be laid out.

He said: "We talk about traffic movement across the borough. We have prosperity and lots of new developments coming into the borough.

"There is lots more in the pipeline. There's cumulative effect going on here. I know we can talk about this one in isolation but It's the cumulative effect of what we're see across the borough. We mustn't take our eyes of this because this is going to build and build.

"There's an awful lot of development going on in the east of the borough and the west of the borough and this sits right in the middle. They're all on junctions and they are all going to be struggling soon."

Cllr Arnold added: "I think this scheme is fantastic. The footfall that this is going to generate for the town is just tremendous.

"It's regenerating this area. It's a very tired, elderly set of buildings there at the minute and we've got a nice, clean, modern new development going in there and that can only be welcomed."

The full design and access statement for the project can be viewed via this link.

Committee chair Cllr Tom Kelly also backed the scheme.

He said: "I think this is an absolutely brilliant bit of regeneration that we could be looking at here in Grays, it's really, really welcome.

"The pedestrian access from Titan Road into the town centre is really brilliant. It's really going to help out town centre with the amount of jobs that are being proposed here.

"It does tick all the right boxes. The boost to the economy is important.

"I appreciate business rates aren't a material consideration but right now given the debt this country faces and certainly the council, any additional income should be welcomed."