A RETIREMENT village is bidding an emotional goodbye to a clubhouse with more than 40 years of memories.

Work has begun to knock down Jack Rabbits Bar at Kings Park, Canvey.

The park is preparing for a major revamp, which will see a new cafe, bar and indoor swimming pool built.

The new complex, due to open in September, will also feature function rooms which can be rented out to community groups or residents.

Janice Peacock, 60, managed the bar for more than a decade.

She said she will always remember “the characters and the happy times.”

She added: “It will be very sad to see it go, and I think it’s the characters who used to come in that I’ll always remember.

"People used to come from miles around to the social evenings here, from all across the county and London. I think it was just because there was a bit of everything there really, pool, live music, dancing.

“There were also quite a few famous faces come here and perform, we had everybody from Bob Monkhouse, Joe Longthorne, Jim Davidson and The Who paid visits.

“I guess it all has to come to an end eventually.”

Belinda Briddock, office manager, said Kings Park has changed beyond recognition in her 36 years of working.

She is looking forward to the arrival of the new facility.

She said: “In the early days here it just used to be a holiday park, I started behind the bar here when I began working here so I’ve seen it all change.

“Meeting everybody here in those days with the nightclub made it not feel like work, it was great fun. But the good thing is that it’s still like that here.

“We’re obviously excited to bring the clubhouse here, and we think the new facilities will have everything our residents could possibly need. I think it’s important we do move with the times.”

Kings Park residents David Manclark has helped to bring weekly dementia support sessions to the site, working with the Alzheimers Society, and hopes to make use of the building.

He said: "I've been here since November 2011, so I don't remember too much about how it was in the early days.

"In terms of the support sesssion, given the profile of some residents here, we need to have somewhere that lots of people can get support if they want it. At the moment we are making use of the site office, which we are very grateful for of course.

"The new clubhouse with the function room would be perfect for that."

The 70 acre community, near Canvey Heights Country Park, has 750 homes for residents over 50.

For more information, visit kingsparkvillage.com