Essex Police put dispersal order in place after violent disorder breaks out in Southend

Police have seized multiple weapons and made eight arrests after violence broke out in a seaside city.

The disorder happened in Southend on the High Street and seafront on Tuesday evening.

Essex Police said two of the people arrested were injured and taken to hospital for further treatment. Their injuries were not described as life-threatening.

A Section 60 dispersal order has been put in place by police, which is active until 8pm on Wednesday, covering Marine Parade, Pier Hill, High Street, Western Esplanade and both the city's train stations.

The order allows officers to stop and search any person or anything carried by them, any vehicle, its driver and passengers, for offensive weapons or dangerous objects.

Ch Supt Leighton Hammett said: “These incidents are appalling – we will not tolerate this dangerous and violent behaviour on our streets.”

“We responded quickly, with officers already deployed on the sea front and arrests made to keep the public safe."

He added that it appeared young men and women had travelled to Southend and the attacks were targeted.

Businesses reportedly locked their doors while the disorder took place, with the owner of the popular seafront amusement park Adventure Island confirming it had closed an hour early.

Posting on X, Philip Miller said: "We closed an hour early. However the police were terrific in trying circumstances.

"They could not pay me enough to put up with the abuse they suffer."

Bayo Alaba, the MP for Southend East and Rochford, said he had driven around the city to see the "distressing scenes" for himself.

He thanked police for their response and said he would be meeting them for an update on Wednesday morning.

"The safety of the community and putting measures in place so that does not happen again are top priorities of mine," he added on X.

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Officers will be patrolling the areas on Wednesday and the force is encouraging anyone with information about the disorder on Tuesday evening, particularly around 7pm, or dashcam footage of it to contact the police.

Ch Supt Hammett said: “The stop and search powers in place have already taken weapons off the streets of Southend and we will not hesitate to stop anyone we suspect is carrying a weapon. If you carry a knife in Essex you will not get away with it.

“Our officers will be in the city and on the seafront again today, so please speak to one of our officers if you have any information about last night’s disorder.”

Earlier, Daniel Cowan, Labour leader of Southend City Council, said there had been a "large influx of young people".

Writing on X, he said: "I’m urging calm and encouraging people to avoid Jubilee beach this evening as Essex Police deal with a large influx of young people.

"It’s a developing situation that CCTV and the police are monitoring and more police resources are en route to support the dispersal order that is in place."

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