COUNCILLORS have voted to beef up security in the wake of the death of Sir David Amess.

Members of Halstead Town Council met at a November council meeting to discuss plans to bolster the protection of staff.

It comes in the wake of the Sir David Amess attack which saw the death of the veteran Southend MP.

Sir David was stabbed multiple times at a constituency surgery meeting in Leigh on October 15 and was pronounced dead shortly after.

His death shook British politics and raised a number of questions over political security, similar to when Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered in 2016.

After Sir David’s death, Halstead Council moved to introduce measures which would improve the personal safety for members and staff.

Members of the council unanimously agreed upon a number of measures.

These included simple measures like redacting personal information from the council website, creating generic email addresses for councillors, advising councillors avoid social media in an official capacity, and staff working alone at the council offices lock themselves in.

Other measures included approaching the public at meetings for details on arrival, officers and members be issued with personal security alarms, a panic alarm extension be added to the office, and a new front door at Queens Hall should be fitted with a release pad.

Finally they agreed their MP, James Cleverly, should in future conduct his surgeries in Queens Hall, where there are two exits, and that he should bring his own staff to ensure his personal security and carry out a weapons search of those attending.

A spokesman for the council said: “Following the death of Sir David Amess, and seeing how easy it was for an intruder to get to him, HTC decided that it can no longer allow such easy access to its staff and councillors.

“Staff and members are relived that these measures are being taken, as those to whom the public have access are vulnerable to such attacks.

“In addition individual councillors can ask for their personal details to be removed from the Register of interests held at Braintree. These measures have been introduced with immediate effect.”