A residential home for children with traumatic backgrounds could be built in Westcliff.

An application has been submitted to Southend Council to turn bedsits in a semi-detached house in Claremont Road into a home for children aged from ten to eighteen.

The home will provide care for children with “complex social, emotional and behavioural needs who have experienced trauma from disability, loss, separation, neglect, deprivation and physical or sexual abuse.

The home will offer accommodation for youngsters referred by local authorities in the area and beyond.

In its application, Claremont 15 ltd said: “The aim of the residential children’s home is to provide accommodation for the children in an environment which is as close to conventional family life as possible.

“Care and support will be provided in a communal environment.”

The property, currently a house of multiple occupation (HMO) has five bedrooms which will allow for a member of staff to sleep there.

The application said: “The children and carers will live together and share all facilities and matters for housekeeping. Meals will be eaten together in line with conventional family life.

“Care will be provided by carers operating on a shift-based system and no permanent carer will be living at the property.

“There will always be two carers at the property at any one time, including overnight.”

A recreation room and therapy suite are also planned.

Claremont 15 directors Lee Makombe, Simon Bayly and Waqar Choudhry are behind the scheme.

Mr Bayly said: “Having spent twenty years working in both the social care and education sectors, I have a through working knowledge of residential establishments and the necessary requirements to deliver children’s residential care services.”

Mr Bayly added: “The needs of the young people living in a communal home arrangement require thoughtful planning in terms of physicality of the home and the more complex components that support an emotionally supportive culture.”