A TRADITIONAL British seaside has been created in North Weald to help elderly dementia patients re-live some of their fondest memories.

Pensioners at Cunningham House made a delightfully short beano to the man-made beach outside their care home in Pike Way to enjoy some jellied eels and a good old-fashioned knees-up.

The sensory garden - featuring deck chairs, beach huts, and cliff-face art work - has been designed to help stimulate the home's residents, many of whom have the progressive condition which affects memory, language and problem-solving.

Essex County Council agreed to fund the project - which took about two months to complete - following feedback from the residents who said they wanted a communual area which would remind them of childhood trips to the seaside.

Cockles and mussels were served as a keyboard player gave renditions of classics including Vera Lynn's 'White Cliffs of Dover' at yesterday's (May 27) official opening.

Epping Forest MP Eleanor Laing joined the party to cut the ribbon at the attraction, which uses shingle to create the illusion of the sea.

Resident Joyce Thurgood said: "It is something different and I think that everyone will enjoy it. I had a lovely day."

And it was like Margate all over again for residents Evelyn Kelly, who called it "beautiful", and Constance Sabourin who said: "I really liked the music - it brought back so many memories."

The home provides 24-hour care for patients with varying levels of need, and manager Rosemary Moor says the new facility will help improve the quality of life for all its 54 residents.

She said: "The idea came from the residents themselves. We spoke to them last summer and this was a theme which came up over and over again.

"They said they had very happy memories of the seaside, and we take people from all over the country so we are talking seaside towns all over England.

"It will help stimulate them and we will encourage them to get their own picnics together or put on specially-themed music shows and sea-food days."