CONCERNED residents packed a town’s meeting hall to call on police to take action on rising crime.

More than 50 members of the public turned up the last Manningtree Town Council meeting - so many they had to move to a bigger room.

Tendring community policing team inspector Darren Deex spoke a out in the visibility and service of the local police force.

He also answered a number of concerns from residents.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Deex said: “I explained to everyone that the chief constable had to make some difficult decisions over the past few years in the face of the budget cuts and this included closing police stations in some areas of the county.

“Unfortunately Mistley was one of those police stations.

“However I stressed that a policing service was still provided to the area from both Harwich and Clacton Police Stations by the Local and Community Policing Teams.

“I made it clear that we were doing our absolute best with the resources, demand and budget constraints placed upon us.”

He added: “I accepted that occasionally we would make mistakes as we are only human but that we were also doing our utmost to bring all offenders to justice where enquiries could be carried out to identify a suspect.

Mr Deex also said he hoped his attendance helped allay some of the community concerns and explain what the police are doing to provide the visible policing service they deserve.

Members of the Manningtree Sailing Club are calling for two police officers to be based at the town’s fire station after damage to boats and crimes in the town including ram raids on the Tesco store and the Natwest cashpoint.

Mr Deex said: “I advised them that we were looking into embedding a Special Constable into Manningtree Fire Station and encouraged local residents to start up a Community Speed Watch scheme, along with Marine Watch to help deter some of their more recent marine related crime.

“I also spoke about Active Citizens and the Tendring Community Safety Partnership Street Action Days and the upcoming Community Days of Action.”

Manningtree councillor Lee Lay-Flurrie said she found the meeting was very productive and hope that residents had their questions answered.

She said: “Mr Deex did not dodge any of the questions and answered them to the best of his knowledge.”

Members of the sailing club were set to meet with deputy police and crime commissioner for Essex Jane Gardner yesterday to discuss their proposals for two new officers.

She said: “We’ve had some correspondence from a resident in Manningtree regarding some ideas and I have agreed to meet with them and other residents to talk these through.

“I will then take the feedback from these discussions away and discuss any workable points with the relevant agencies that may be involved.”

The latest figures on the Essex Police website show there were 76 crimes in the Manningtree policing area in August 2017 - compared to 63 in August 2016 - including 21 violent and sexual offences, 18 incidents of anti-social behaviour and 12 burglaries.