Shopkeeper defends premises amid seafront disorder

Mohammad Imran said he had "never seen anything" like the disorder on the seafront on Tuesday

A shopkeeper has described having to physically defend his premises as a night of violence erupted in a seaside city.

Mohammad Imran, 58, said shops were being "looted" in Southend-on-Sea while people fought with machetes on the seafront on Tuesday.

His comments came after Essex Police told the BBC how officers had "quashed" further anticipated disruption on Thursday evening.

Lessons had been learned and specialist resources were available to tackle any trouble at the weekend, the force said.

Mr Imran, who has lived in the Essex city for 35 years, said he had "never seen anything" like the disorder on Tuesday.

"There were so many people, so many mobs," he said.

"Nobody had the courage to stop them because there were too many of them, especially with machetes."

The shopkeeper said he had to shut another premises after it was "looted", while he had to act as doorman at his shop called Big News 4, in Clifftown Road.

"It was pretty scary, I've never seen anything like this," he added.

"They just came into shops taking whatever they like - crisps, drinks, anything - and then walked out."

'Intimidating situations'

Eight boys and men were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder as a result of the fracas that broke out from about 19:00 BST on Tuesday.

A man was also airlifted to hospital after he suffered a stab wound near the seafront.

Supt Leigh Norris said knife arches were key in disrupting individuals carrying knives on trains

Supt Leigh Norris, of Essex Police, said officers were "constantly reviewing intelligence" to prevent any further violence.

He said officers at Southend's train stations on Thursday had turned away potentially disruptive groups and stopped and searched 49 people.

"Any form of potential disorder, if there was any, was quashed," he told the BBC.

Daniel Cowan, the Labour leader of Southend-on-Sea City Council, said "lessons were certainly learned" by the police.

The councillor said he had been "concerned" to hear information passed to the force on Tuesday "hadn't been actioned as early as it could've been".

But he praised officers for dealing with "intimidating situations" across the High Street and Marine Parade.

Council leader Daniel Cowan said lessons had been learned by the police following the disorder

"What the videos don’t show is the police arrested those perpetrators and confiscated those weapons within minutes," he said.

"I believe they’ve learned the right lessons and now we need to support them moving forward to keep Southend safe all throughout the summer."