A GANG of armed yobs threatened three young teenage boys outside a popular leisure centre.

The gang were armed with broken glass and tools outside Waterside Farm Leisure Centre, Somnes Avenue, Canvey.

Police officers rushed to the scene to search the area but nothing was found.

An angry mum of one of the victims posted on social media about the terrifying incident.

She said: “My son and his two friends were threatened by boys with a broken glass bottle, bolt cutters and scooter tyres.

“He is nearly 13 and he said they looked younger than him.

“They were at Waterside Farm Park and it was two Asian lads and a blond lad.

“They were saying that my son and his friends were touching there bikes.

“They were not touching the bikes at all.

“This is totally disgusting behaviour and I have logged this with the police and given a description of the lads to them.”

It has been met with an outpouring of support and well wishes in the community.

The popular centre is owned by the council.

Norman Smith, Tory leader of Castle Point Council said: “This is something we don’t normally have a problem with.

“It is almost unheard of at our facilities and something we take very seriously.

“We will be taking to police to see if they can recommend anything.

“We do have CCTV but I don’t know if it covers the area where it happened.

“It is always concerning when this sort of thing happens and it shocks us all.

“We have one of the safest boroughs around.

“We will be looking to see if we should be banning anyone from the facility.”

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We were contacted shortly before 2.30pm on Sunday May 5 with reports three boys were threatened by three other boys at Waterside Farm Leisure Centre, Somnes Avenue, Canvey.

“Officers searched the area but the suspects were not found. Anyone with information is asked to call the Canvey local policing team on 101 quoting incident 588 of May 5.”