Our seaside town dubbed the UK’s ‘most deprived’ is plagued by litter and disease… now even our future here is in danger

Residents of a seaside town dubbed Britain’s “most deprived city” have been told their region’s future is in jeopardy.

Jaywick in Essex was featured in the Channel 5 series ‘Benefits By The Sea’ in 2015 and 2016 and was about the struggles of its residents struggling to survive.

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The city’s reputation continued to deteriorate in 2019, when it was named the most deprived area in England for the third time in official government figures.

Last year, it was ravaged by disease — at least a dozen dogs died in an outbreak of canine parvovirus.

And now, in another blow to residents, fears are growing that Jaywick’s flood defenses could soon fail and the area could be flooded.

Councilor Dan Casey narrated The Express: “In 1953 we lost 35 people to the floods down here and if it came over the wall now there would be a lot more people down there so I hate to think about it [about it] and I just hope that day never comes.”

This happened after the water came within an inch of the seawall in 2013.

And Mr Casey says many of the houses and buildings by the sea are not designed to withstand flooding.

He said: “We still have the same apartments in the Brooklands area that are basically 70, 80, 90 years old now and, how would you say, they’re not really flood resistant and we live in a flood plain.”

“You have to think about what you’re going to do with the accommodation.”

For years, Jaywick has been plagued by documentaries depicting the community of 5,000 as money managers, drunk welfare recipients and thugs.

Her reputation was further damaged when a defense attorney for then-President Donald Trump used the image of a run-down part of Jaywick in an anti-poverty campaign.

The poster, made by politician Nick Stella, read, “Only YOU can prevent this from becoming a REALITY… Help President Trump keep America on track and prosper.”

A United Nations expert also visited the village in 2018 and highlighted the plight of its residents in his report on “extreme poverty” in the UK.

However, residents love living there and insist that the locals are the “friendliest and nicest people in the world”.

And despite the area’s bad reputation, Jaywick was voted the fifth best place to live in England in a poll earlier this year.

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