A 70-year-old church that “looks like a prison” could be demolished and rebuilt.

The redevelopment of Southend’s Saint Stephens Church on Alton Gardens will see a host of improvements - including the rebuild of a temporary hall built in the 1940s.

The church has no hot water, crumbling window frames, rotten floors, as well as internal walls “held together by tape”.

While a metal grid gate outside the the church looks “unwelcoming” and described as a “prison” in planning documents.

St Laurence ward councillor Daniel Cowan, said: “Renovating a crumbling building and putting this church back into the heart of the community is no bad thing.

“I think this part of St Laurence is often a forgotten and overlooked part of the ward and the town itself. The Saint Stephen parish is, according to the Church of England own deprivation statistics, in the top ten per cent of most deprived wards in the country.

“It does need more support and more accessible facilities because while it is well connected to the town centre by a bus route, if you can’t access the bus to reach facilities that are further way then they are no use.

“A community shop would be great as well as a crèche. We have lots of young families and with the economy looking more and more problematic, people are going to feel a lot of pressure to take as much work as they can to make ends meet and child care will be a barrier to that, so a reliable service that is affordable with the church creche will make a real difference.”

The new main entrance will lead directly to a new chapel alongside a new community café and shop.

A nursery and creche with play area will be built.

The centre of the building will be the new main hall and worship space, which will be connected to a new kitchen area and a games room.

The final section will be health and fitness rooms which can be hired out by the community.