THE Army will have to be deployed on the streets of Southend if police numbers are not urgently increased, a leading councillor has claimed.

Southend’s deputy leader Ron Woodley said residents of Southend live in fear of leaving their homes due to a spike in crime during lockdown.

The Independent councillor, who represents the Thorpe Bay ward, said there are not enough police to deal with the problem and armed forces should be deployed.

His comments have come after videos emerged of a brawl on the seafront at Thorpe Bay Gardens on Tuesday night, which led to the arrest of a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and being in possession of an offensive weapon.

He said: “If we can’t get enough police then get the armed forces on the streets.

“We don’t want to be in a military state but we want to be safe and if we haven’t got police resources, what other resources have we got?”

Mr Woodley said he did not blame the police officers for incidents like those seen on Thorpe Bay Gardens as “they can only do what they can based on the resources”.

However, he hit out at the number of officers available to Essex Police and the number allocated to the borough, adding: “It is a joke, an absolute joke.

“They get millions of pounds from the police precept from Southend residents, we are the biggest town in Essex and the most populated town in Essex yet they treat us like dirt. Enough is enough.”

He added: “Last year we had problems in the weekends but as a lot of these people no longer have school, they have all day and night to play merry hell into the early hours of the morning.

“At the moment it is every night and it is not just Thorpe Bay, it is across the whole borough, from Leigh right the way through. People don’t want to leave their front doors and not because of the virus but because of the violence.”

Independent councillor Martin Terry, who oversees public safety, also raised concerns about the growing number of incidents involving antisocial behaviour.

He said: “We are definitely seeing an uptick in antisocial behaviour as a result of the lockdown. It is becoming a noticeable consequence of Covid-19 that we are seeing all over the borough.

“In just the past week we have seen gangs of men throwing bottles at City Beach at the weekend with someone hospitalised. Other people are coming into the borough from other parts of Essex and coming into public areas and losing control.”

“I am deeply concerned.”

'Southend is still safe... but we understand your concerns'

SOUTHEND’S police chief insists the town remains safe despite councillors urgently calling for a boost to police numbers.

And Chief Insp Ian Hughes, district commander for Southend, also denied crime is on the rise.

He said: “Southend is a safe place to live, work, and over the last year has become even safer.

“We continue to work with our partners, such as Southend Council, to address concerns and issues of antisocial behaviour and deter activity like this from happening again “Over the last year we’ve made really positive steps in terms of the number crimes reported in Southend.

“While crime has increased across the country, that rise here has been less and less each month.

“In the months before the Government’s Covid-19 restrictions, we had already seen fewer burglaries and robberies, while reports of other offences such as violence against the person and vehicle theft, were also moving in the right direction.

“In the last couple of months we’ve seen reported crime decrease even further with more than 950 fewer crimes reports in the year to the end of May – a drop of nearly 5 per cent.”