AN historic pub threatened with demolition will be preserved when it is transformed into flats and a fish and chip shop...after campaigners and developers came to a truce.

The Stockvale Group has laid out fresh plans for the Britannia, in Eastern Esplanade, Southend, in an application to Southend Council.

The facade of the 200-year-old pub will be preserved, although outbuildings and part of its rear will be demolished.

In its place will be three flats with a ground floor restaurant. A separate four storey block of six flats will be built at the back.

The pub, which closed in March 2015, dates back to the early 19th century. It is in the Kursaal conservation area and listed as a building of historic importance.

Campaigners are celebrating a partial victory. Stockvale originally claimed the building was beyond repair.

Historian Ian Yearsley said the latest plans are a welcome compromise.

He said: “From what I have it is an improvement. I think the developer deserves credit for taking public opinion into account. The building is of historical importance so it is heartening to they have taken this course of action.”

Vernon Wilkinson, spokesman for The Essex County Preservation Trust, believes more needs to be done to protect the building.

He said: “What we’re going to get is a shell. There is no point preserving the facade if you lose the integrity of the the rest of the building.

“Gutting the interior takes away what it was like in the nineteenth century.”

Stockvale managing director Marc Millar said extra flats have been added to the original plans to fund the preservation project.

He said: “Following the withdrawal of the previous planning application, further extensive detailed structural analysis has been undertaken. This has concluded in retaining the front facade and side flank of the Britannia, and therefore the overall historical appearance.

“In order to facilitate the extensive work and cost resulting from retaining the heritage asset there has been a redesign to the rear to introduce extra residential uses.”