Teen arrested after 'multiple phone robberies'

A suspect was detained at the railway station on Saturday night

A 17-year-old has been arrested after multiple people reported their mobile phones had been robbed.

Essex Police said "several suspects had robbed several victims" in The Pastures and nearby streets in Hatfield Peverel, near Chelmsford, at about 20:50 GMT on Saturday.

Officers arrived at the scene "within minutes" and arrested a teenager on suspicion of robbery. Six phones were recovered at the scene, which will be "forensically analysed".

A spokesperson for the force added that police were "pursuing several lines of inquiry to identify and locate further suspects, as well as identify every victim from last night's incidents".

Det Insp Dan Jeffries appealed for witnesses to get in touch and said: "This is a fast-moving and large investigation — this means you'll see more officers on the street in Hatfield Peverel today, and I urge anyone with information to speak to us.

"We know there were dozens of people nearby in a busy residential area — there will be CCTV, doorbell footage and dashcam footage, and we'll be collecting all of this as quickly as we can."