A report of a suspected WW2 grenade forced Shoebury station to be evacuated while specialist officers are on the scene.

Emergency services are dealing with an incident near the railway in Shoebury which has seen c2c trains suspended.

Trains to and from Shoebury have been suspended between Southend Central and Shoebury.

Read more >>> c2c trains suspended in Shoebury as emergency services deal with incident

This is as specialist officers are assessing a suspected WW2 grenade near the railway between Shoebury and Thorpe Bay.

British Transport Police were called at 11.44am today to reports of the object.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: "We were called at 11.44am today (August 2) to a report of a suspected WW2 grenade found at Shoebury railway depot.

"The depot has been evacuated while specialist units attend to assess the object."

All stations between Southend Central and Shoebury will not be served, c2c says.

Disruption was expected until the end of the day.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed it was in attendance at the incident today.

An MoD spokesman said: “We can confirm an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team was called out to the Shoebury Rail Depot at the request of British Transport Police.

"A single hand grenade, likely World War 2 era, was identified and safely recovered for subsequent disposal. All further queries should be directed to the police."