Queen Elizabeth II: Essex reacts to Her Majesty's death

Flags will fly at half-mast and books of condolence will be opened for the people of Essex to pay their respects to the Queen

The Lord-Lieutenant of Essex has led the county's tributes to the Queen following her death, calling her a "symbol of stability".

Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral on Thursday, aged 96, after a 70-year reign.

Flags will fly at half-mast and books of condolence will be opened in Essex.

Jennifer Tolhurst, the county's lord-lieutenant, said the Queen had been "an outstanding example of service both in wartime and peacetime".

Every county has a lord-lieutenant, who acts as the monarch's representative and usually welcomes royal guests when they visit.

"She has been a symbol of stability through decades in which the world has seen very many changes," she added.

The Queen visited Tilbury a year into her reign, in February 1953, to meet residents affected by the east coast tidal surge

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh (far right), attended a service as part of the centenary celebrations of the Church of England's Chelmsford diocese in May 2014

Civic leaders have also paid tribute to the Queen.

John Galley, the Mayor of Chelmsford, said: "Our late sovereign's incredible reign has spanned a period of great change, longer than that of any other monarch in British history.

"We give thanks for her extraordinary lifetime of service, and we mourn in fellowship across our city, sharing our sorrow with millions of others across the world."

He said the Queen first visited Chelmsford in 1958, and other visits followed, including one in 1963 when Chelmsford Cathedral was chosen for the distribution of Royal Maundy money and in 2012 when the Queen granted city status to the town as part of the celebrations for her Diamond Jubilee.

In 2014, she returned to Chelmsford to attend a service as part of the centenary celebrations of Chelmsford Diocese.

"Chelmsfordians are immensely proud of this connection to her long reign, the like of which we have not seen before and perhaps will not again," Mr Galley said.

Books of condolence have been opened at Chelmsford Cathedral - two of many across Essex, the UK and Commonwealth

Queen Elizabeth II visited Essex many times during her reign, including Maldon in 2010

In 1991, she opened terminal building at Stansted Airport, as designed by Norman Foster, who she later knighted and then made Baron Foster of Thames Bank

Other visits to the county included one to Tilbury a year into her reign, in February 1953, to meet residents affected by the devastating east coast tidal surge.

She returned with the Duke of Edinburgh in 1957 to visit Harlow, 10 years after the new town had been built to relieve post-war overcrowding in London.

In 1991, she opened Norman Foster new terminal building at Stansted Airport.

Colchester was given city status as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations

Tim Young, Mayor of Colchester, which was given city status as part of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations this year, said she was an "exceptional person".

"Queen Elizabeth has been a devoted servant to this country who, over the course of her long and illustrious reign, touched the hearts of millions of people not just in the United Kingdom but throughout the world," he said.

The new city's University of Essex remembered her visits to campus.

Vice-chancellor Prof Anthony Forster said "Her Majesty the Queen was respected throughout the United Kingdom and around the world.

"This was reflected by the large number of our international students who joined the crowds to welcome her when she came in 1985 and 2004.

"They were both joyous occasions which will never be forgotten by those who were fortunate enough to have been there."

Southend-on-Sea was also granted city status this year in March, following the murder of local MP Sir David Amess.

Kevin Robinson, Mayor of Southend, said: "We join the rest of the nation in expressing our very great sadness.

"Her Majesty The Queen... is rightly loved and respected across the world. Our thoughts are with The Royal Family at this deeply sad time."

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Nick Alston, the former police, fire and crime commissioner who was appointed High Sheriff of Essex by the Queen earlier this year, said he was "full of sadness at this time of remarkable loss for all of us".

"My head is full of reflections," he said.

"I'm drawn to looking back to what a time of immense change it's been, extraordinary change right around the world and our nation, but also affecting her.

"She's lived a life in the eye of the cameras, with the intrusiveness of the press, in a way that no monarch has done, and how graciously she's done that."

Tributes were also paid by Essex MPs.

James Cleverly, the Conservative MP for Braintree who has been appointed foreign secretary this week, tweeted: "She will be remembered for her dedicated service at home, across the Commonwealth and around the globe. Her extraordinary service fostered peace and friendship worldwide."

Giles Watling, the former actor turned Conservative MP for Clacton, said her passing was a "dark cloud over the nation which she loved".

"We will always remember her selfless service to the British people and the wider world. She was a true global phenomenon the like of which we will never see again," he tweeted.