A HOUSING estate’s “heart” has been restored as its only supermarket reopened after a huge redevelopment.

Residents of Craylands, in Pitsea, were without a shop for about 18 months after Kam Co Craylands closed as Swan Housing carried out a £200million redevelopment of the estate.

But owner Sinniah Kam has opened a new, bigger supermarket inanew unit, next to Craylands Clinic.

Mr Kam, 50, whose new shop is called Kams Loco, said: “I’m so happy, because every time people saw me they asked me when I was opening.

“We planned to open two or three times, but Swan Housing hadn’t finished its side of it.

“We had to wait for 18 months, but then I finished fitting out the shop in a month.”

Kam Co Craylands, which was open for more than a decade, was a popular meeting place, where residents could catch up on the latest gossip as well as picking up their groceries.

Tenants report Kams Loco has already started fulfilling the same role.

Mr Kam, whose wife and daughter work in the 2,200sq ft store, also hopes to open a cafe and fish and chip shop in the same parade next month.

The new eatery, called Uncle Kams, will be the end unit.

Peter Blackwell, 38, a guitar teacher from Southwark Path, Craylands, has welcomed Mr Kam back.

He said: “It’s just a hopeful and joyous occasion because everybody I have told is amazed and when they go over there it has a ‘wow-factor’.

“It’s so much bigger and cleaner. It’s another degree of quality really.

“It’s been troubling to be without a shop because we have been going across to Sainsbury’s, which is about 35 minutes away from here.

“The original shop was the heart of the estate and a hub for information and gossip.

“They were familiar faces, gluing the estate together.

“We have been without them for a year and suddenly to have them back–there has been a collective sigh of relief.”