A teacher is disappointed with police after allegedly being told to collect her own evidence after her car was attacked.

Julia Nicholson's windscreen and two side windows of her Ford Ka Sport were smashed, possibly by someone using a hammer in Spencer Close, Maldon, on March 17.

Miss Nicholson said: “There have been numerous incidents on our estate, yet nobody came out to see the damage or investigate.

“I phoned the police at about 6am, but they didn’t come out because they said there was no point.

“They said ‘do you know if there are any witnesses?’.

“I said no and they asked me to knock on doors, which I thought was something they should be doing.”

DCI Elliott Judge, of Essex Police, said: “Essex Police does not ask victims to investigate crimes themselves but we will obviously want to know what enquiries they have made before calling us.

"The realities of policing and a finite number of resources at our disposal mean we do have to ensure that officers’ time is put to the best possible use and have to prioritise.”