Thurrock Shopping Guide: Lakeside, Grays Town Centre and Street Markets

This guide covers shopping as the centres, the council and the markets' licensing page describe it. We do not rank, review or recommend individual shops, and we give times as the centres publish them.

Lakeside Shopping Centre

Lakeside's plan your visit page gives the address as Lakeside Shopping Centre, West Thurrock Way, Grays, Essex, RM20 2ZP. The council's Discover Thurrock page says Lakeside Retail Park sits alongside the centre.

The centre says:

• By train: it is served by the c2c station at Chafford Hundred Lakeside, a short walk via a pedestrian link bridge, with direct access through the second floor of NEXT. See our train stations guide.
• By bus: the bus station is outside the main entrance on level 1. Its page links to Ensign Bus timetables; see our buses guide.
• By car: it describes 12 free car parks with dedicated bays for parents and disabled visitors, lifts and escalators into the centre, and EV charging bays in Car Park G, including Tesla Superchargers. It also publishes opening times for each car park, which differ by car park, and height restrictions in the multi-storey. Its page quotes two different totals for the number of spaces, so we give none.
• By bike: local cycle routes run from Chafford Hundred and Grays, and National Cycle Routes 13 and 137 run nearby.

For store opening times the page lists them week by week; for the weeks beginning 28 September it showed Monday to Friday 10am to 9pm and Sunday 11am to 5pm. Check the page for Saturday hours and for any change.

Grays Shopping Centre and Grays town centre

Grays Shopping Centre, RM17 6QE, says it is next to Grays railway station and the bus station, and can be reached on foot by many visitors. Its car park page says the 700-space multi-storey car park is open 24/7, has CCTV, is next to the station and bus station, and has disabled parking with lifts to the ground floor. The council's car parks page lists Grays Shopping Centre as privately run, with its own charges and rules, and gives the nearby council car parks in Argent Street, Cromwell Road and elsewhere; see our parking guide.

The council says Grays market is a general street market selling food, clothing, accessories and other general goods, which trades in the High Street and George Street in Grays.

Street markets

The council's market licensing page says there are currently two street markets in Thurrock, both run by contracted operators:

• Grays market: usually Friday and Saturday each week, 9am to 5pm, in the High Street and George Street, Grays
• South Ockendon market: usually Tuesday and Saturday each week, 9am to 5pm, between Derwent Parade and Derry Avenue, South Ockendon

The council says the operator may not open the market if severe weather is expected. For events, see our markets and events guide.

Other town centres

The council says towns and villages across the borough offer family-run businesses and brand-name high street stores, but its page does not list them individually, so we do not either. Free council car parks are listed for Corringham, Chadwell St Mary and Grays (Socketts Heath), and car parks in South Ockendon, on the council's page.

Our sister site Basildon.co covers the nearest large Essex town.