Essex Police has revealed why officers were called to a Covid vaccine site in Southend. 

It was initially thought the force was responding to reports of an illegal rave at Saxon Hall in Aviation Way. 

But officers arrived to find a large queue of elderly people who were all queueing up to get their coronavirus jab. 

A spokesman for Essex Police said officers were tasked with managing congestion at the site, rather than trying to shut down an illegal gathering. 

He said: "As the good public of Essex know, where we receive reports of people clearly and flagrantly breaking the rules we will respond, but we're also available to help the community when needed.

"Upon receiving reports of congestion at the vaccination centre, a unit responded to offer help with traffic management, and returned later that day to check that everything was progressing smoothly for those getting their jabs.

"No-one wants to see all of our communities getting the jab and being protected more than us at Essex Police, particularly our elderly and vulnerable communities and we will do all we can to support that."

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Dennis Baum, chairman of Saxon Hall told the Echo that when officers attended they told him they expected to find a "rave" taking place.

He said: “It was really funny when the police arrived as they had been notified that there was a “rave” taking place.