The Chief Constable of Essex Police, Stephen Kavanagh says his force should be proud of the work they've done over the past four years in the face of £60 million of cuts. 

Talking about the increase in crime that the county has seen, he said it was due to increased reporting of domestic abuse, hate crimes and historical child abuse case and was to be welcomed. He said that online crimes such as fraud and harassment were still under reported.

He also blamed the increase on "troubled families" being moved out of London and some gang crime also migrating out of London. He said that homicide rates went up last year but "thankfully" so far this year are significantly down.

Image source, Essex Police

Jane Killick
BBC Three Counties Radio

A 66-year-old man has been killed while crossing the road in Bishop's Stortford. 

Hertfordshire Police has named the man as Iain Stevenson, who lived locally. 

It happened on London Road opposite Aldi at about 19:40 yesterday. 

Officers are appealing for witnesses, especially anyone who saw the car involved, a grey Volkswagen Touran.

Image source, Google

Police have charged an Essex man with two counts of rape following an alleged incident in the Houses of Parliament.

Samuel Armstrong, 23, from Danbury, was also charged with sexual assault in relation to the alleged attack in October.

Mr Armstrong is chief of staff to South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay, but has been suspended from his duties since the allegations came to light.

He has been bailed to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on 31 March, Scotland Yard said.

Mr Mackinlay has been asked for a comment.

Chief of staff to South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay charged following alleged attack in October.

Police were involved in a pursuit after the driver of a stolen car failed to stop. The silver Ford Mondeo Estate was spotted on the A130 in Canvey yesterday morning, some 10 hours after it had been reported stolen from Hainault Grove in Chelmsford.

The driver was forced to stop after the 30-minute pursuit through Chelmsford ended in Epping Close.

A 35-year-old man, from Canvey, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous driving, failing to stop and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

He remains in police custody.

Image source, Google

• Crime has actually gone up in Essex when compared to the rest of England and Wales. While this is true for many forces, crime in Essex was up by 12.9% compared with a national average of 7.8%
• There's a big increase in the number of sex offender checks that are overdue - 400 compared with 50 in 2015
• The report highlights a significant backlog in investigating computers and other digital devices
• Vulnerable victims: Despite huge overall improvements since 2015, some officers aren't qualified to do the job

Image source, essex police

The driver of a Ford Focus is in hospital with serious injuries after being cut from the car by firefighters last night. The 24-year-old driver of the second car involved - a Volvo - is under arrest on suspicion of dangerous driving. 

Fifth Avenue, the A1019, remains closed in both directions at the Burnt Mill Roundabout.

Essex Police are continuing to investigate.

A 24-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after a collision in Harlow. 

It happened in Fifth Road just after midnight and the road remains closed this morning.

Both drivers had to be cut free from their vehicles.

Ben Watts
Sports reporter, BBC Radio Kent

Gillingham defender Paul Konchesky looks set to leave the club today to sign for seventh-tier side Billericay Town.

The 35-year old left back, who has two England caps to his name, has featured just twice since Ady Pennock became Gills head coach in January.

The Ryman Premier club have recently been taken over by multi-millionaire Glenn Tamplin.

Neither club has yet made a formal announcement regarding the transfer.

Read the full story here .

Image source, Rex Features

Well that's the headline: Essex Police force has an overall rating of "good" - that's the equivalent of a three-star rating with four stars being the best.

So what is it getting right?

The HMIC report, external says that Essex Police: 

• Has "greatly improved" its response to people who are vulnerable since 2015 
• Is "good at preventing crime, tackling anti-social behaviour and keeping people safe" 
• Understands the communities it serves and the threats they face and regularly seeks the views and acts on feedback from the public to prioritise activities
• Works well with partners such as local councils
• Is "good at investigating crime and reducing re-offending"
• Works effectively in combating street gangs and "the public can have confidence in the force's ability not just to pursue and disrupt organised criminals but to prevent [it] from taking root in communities"
• Has good plans to mobilise to the threats set out in the national Strategic Policing Requirement, including preparedness for a terrorist firearms attack such as that witnessed by Paris in 2015 

You can read the whole report  here, external .

Image source, Essex Police

You've no doubt seen the national headlines reporting the findings of the policing watchdog , Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary. 

I'm going to breakdown what the report says specfically about Essex Poice's performance: the good and the bad. 

Throughout the day we'll have reaction too.

Image source, iStock

We told you yesterday about the body of a man found in a car which had apparently left the A132 in South Woodham Ferrers..

Essex Police now tell us that they have called off the search for a man reported missing nine days ago. Anatoli Nowak,65, from Burnham left work at around 19:00 but never returned home. 

Police say they are not yet in a position to formally identify the man who was found inside a black Jaguar X-Type Sport at a small embankment off the A132 Burnham Road  yesterday afternoon. 

It's still not known how the car ended up in the ditch - any witnesses are asked to get in touch on 01245 240590 or email police, external .

Elizabeth Rizzini
BBC Look East weather

After a chilly and cloudy start, it will gradually turn brighter with some sunny spells.

There's a chance of a few light showers, but the day will be mostly dry.

Temperatures reaching 9C (48F).

Nikki Jenkins
BBC Local Live

I head East as I drive to work each morning, normally it's dark and often raining but today there was a strange bright orb in the sky dazzling me - first job of the day is to find out what on earth that was and how long it's going to be here. 😉☀️

Welcome to Local Live.

Some 10,000 people are legally driving, despite having more points than the usual resulting in a ban.

Businesses say delays to a new Thames crossing to link Kent and Essex are damaging the UK economy.

Nikki Jenkins
BBC Local Live

I'm about to head home very conscious that we are all on a big learning curve about what using a phone at the wheel now means, having heard so many people today receive £200 fines and six points no matter how much they protest that they were just using the sat nav.

You can scroll back down for more news from today, and to counter the sad story of the cats who died from antifreeze poisoning I thought I'd share a happy cat story with you.

This is Kiara, she'd been missing since September 2015.

The family had just moved to a house in Peterswood in Harlow and she escaped three days later.

Unbelievably she was living on the streets nearby but all the wanted posters and searches failed to find her. Seventeen months later it was her microchip which meant she was returned to Grace, David and Jack. Awwww!

Image source, rspca

Friend and former hostage Terry Waite described Harold Lock as "the salt of the earth".

Julie Reinger
BBC Look East weather

Tonight there'll be outbreaks of rain, heavy at times, but becoming largely dry in the south.

The winds are expected to eventually increase, possibly gusting 40-50mph.

That means it'll be a windy start to Thursday with rain or showers for a time in the north of the region.

By the afternoon, everywhere should be fine and dry with long sunny spells, and the winds should have eased.

Highest temperatures of 10C (50F).

For more, head to BBC Weather .

Police have released photos of a "sophisticated" cannabis factory discovered at a house near Brentwood.

Image source, Essex Police

Officers seized hundreds of plants, said to have a street value of hundreds of thousands of pounds, being grown in outbuildings in Thorndon after executing a warrant.

The factory also contained a "drying room" used to get mature plants ready for sale on the street.

Image source, Essex Police

Image source, Essex Police

Sgt Scott Fitzmaurice, of Essex Police, said: "This appeared to be a very sophisticated cannabis cultivation set-up.

"There were three different outbuildings containing what is believed to be cannabis at various stages of growth and each of the outbuildings had been kitted out with insulation, ventilation, specialist lighting and all of the equipment needed to help the drug grow."

A 38-year-old man arrested in the operation remains in custody, police said.