DISPOSAL of council-owned land in Purfleet will turn it into a "concrete jungle" councillors fear.

Thurrock Council hopes to generate £150 million over five years by selling land and property to recover from its eye-watering £1.3 billion debts following a string of bad investments.

Parcels of land and property are being identified, including part of a car park at Purfleet medical centre in Tank Road and areas of scrub land. An Integrated Medical Centre (IMC) was due to be provided on the medical centre site has been put on hold by the NHS.

Councillors at a corporate overview and scrutiny, said if sold to developers it would increase pressure on the already inadequate infrastructure such as GP surgeries and schools.

Cllr Aaron Green, Labour councillor for West Thurrock and South Stifford, was unable to attend the meeting due to ill health but Cllr Martin Kerin, chairman of the committee read out a statement by him "strongly objecting" to the land sale.

He said: "With the integrated medical centre project now up in air what next. All we know is we are waiting and a potential area of expansion could be the rear of the Purfleet medical centre which could potentially house any future medical centre building.

"Two pieces of land are located off Water Lane and St Clements Court and Tank Lane and Purfleet  Primary School. Purfleet on Thames has had many developments over the years and no local infrastructure, which the long anticipated regeneration was supposed to rectify but unfortunately just like the IMC the regeneration is up in the air."

Cllr Lee Watson, Labour councillor for West Thurrock and South Stifford, added: "Purfleet on Thames has already committed to 3,000 homes through the Purfleet Centre Regeneration Limited. Even if that doesn't continue some part of the land will still have those homes.

"We were supposed to be getting an IMC That's now been put on the back burner. We are supposed to be getting a new primary school that's not coming through. We're just making it into a concrete jungle of over and over again housing."

Cllr Ben Maney, councillor responsible for regeneration and highways, said: "It's a piece of land that the council has no use for. It's sitting there idle. We do have a maintenance liability for it and regardless of the reasons for us wanting to sell this in order to help us with the council's financial situation, really you have to ask yourself should we ever retain bits of land like this which we have no planned use for?"