CRUMBLING garages on a Canvey housing estate have been labelled a death trap.

Neville Watson, a councillor representing Winter Gardens ward, is worried about six lock-ups in the Brindles estate, off Eastways.

Mr Watson says two garage roofs have collapsed and the others are in very poor condition.

All but one of the garages are no longer in use and they have become a hangout for kids, as well as a notorious fly-tipping spot.

Mr Watson, of the Canvey Island Independent Party, wants Castle Point Council to demolish the teetering wrecks or rebuild them.

He said: “There’s no way they are stable They look ready to fall down and all the roofs are giving way.

“They’re in such a bad way, it’s an accident waiting to happen.

“My fear is if there is a child messing around in there when they collapse, then we could have a death on our hands.”

The garages have been in a poor state for at least the past two years and two are already exposed to the elements.

They have also been littered by bin bags and abandoned lumps of concrete.

In 2007, a 31-year-old man suffered serious burns to his body after he tried to set fire to the rubbish in the garages and the blaze got out of control.

Canvey councillor Peter Grieg said: “People are leaving rubbish there and kids are setting fire to it.

“The fire brigade has been out two or three times in the past year.”

The garages were built by developers Lawrence Homes in the 1970s, along with the rest of the estate.

However, the company went bankrupt many years ago and mystery now surrounds their ownership.

A spokesman for the council said: “The garages are privately owned and it is down to the people that own the garages to make the repairs and clean up the rubbish. If someone was hurt climbing on the garages then it would solely be down to the owner and not us or anyone else.”