Dispersal orders have been put in place on Southend seafront after a large group of people gathered on the beach.

The order comes after coaches, which were initially meant to be heading to Bradwell-on-sea, arrived in Southend earlier this evening.

This will be in place until 6am tomorrow and covers 4.5 miles along the seafront, starting from Shoebury at Uncle Toms Café to Chalkwell Beach.

Police seized music equipment from the visitors earlier this evening and are continuing to stop vehicles which they believe are looking to attend and cause a public nuisance.

The force have reassured that they are taking a robust approach to tackling the surprise arrival by dispersing groups, stopping vehicles and by using policing powers to prevent an unauthorised event from taking place.

Chief Superintendent Glen Pavelin, said: “Following our enforcement action earlier, a number of vehicles including coaches have arrived in Southend.

“We have orders in place that give us the power to move people away and to seize any equipment associated with an unauthorised event.

“We know they are taking steps to try and get hold of music equipment – we’re even more determined to make sure that they don’t.

“The people gathering here have travelled from outside of Essex and their inconsiderate actions have meant that we have had to focus some of our resources at Southend beaches.

“We have the numbers to manage the situation while our local response teams continue their usual duties – helping to keep your communities safe.

“We thank local people for their support and their co-operation while we manage this incident.”