South Ockendon is a village and Church of England parish in the Thurrock district as well as unitary area in Essex in the East of England, UK. It is located on the border with Greater London, simply outside the M25 motorway. The area to the north is North Ockendon. South Ockendon town became a place for prefabricated homes (prefabs) accommodating bombed-out residents of East London/West Essex in the really late 40s. Much of the initial post-war construction was undertaken by previous German prisoners of war. Most of these were demolished in the late-1960s when a large Greater London Council estate, Lecaplan "concrete" building homes-- the Flowers' Estate-- was constructed to change them, one more time with pre-fabricated residences, albeit of a premium layout. The Lecaplan Kind B kind of pre-cast concrete (big panel concrete) balcony is constructed in rows of eight residential or commercial properties to a layout by J C Tilley and also made by W. & C. French. In the 1970s the Ford Motor Company factory at Aveley housed Ford's Advanced Vehicle Operations which constructed autos such as the RS1600. The plant was relaxed progressively from the late 90's but shut completely in 2004, when the last 150 work were lost. The majority of the 150 workers accepted transfers to various other Ford or supplementary websites around Essex. The 'Aveley' plant was positioned along and west of the train line, adjacent to Ockendon station in the Belhus Ward that part of Ockendon has actually now been developed into brand-new housing estates, with street names after renowned Ford automobiles in keeping with the sites history.