SPECIAL Constables have been praised for keeping the county safe during the floods.

The volunteers contributed almost 1,300 hours of support in two days.

130 who helped performed more than 151 tasks across the county.

Their involvement was praised as invaluable.

Essex Police is looking for many more Special Constables.

The number of officers and PCSOs are being cut to help Essex Police reduce its annual spend by £78million by 2016.

It follows large reductions in Government grants.

The floods have shown what an impact the volunteers can have and what a Special can do for their county.