AN alleged group of travellers were forced to leave a leisure centre by police after reports of a disturbance causing disruption at the site.

Shoebury Leisure Centre was reportedly shut for a short period to allow officers to deal with the incident on Tuesday morning.

It is claimed that a group of suspected travellers managed to get into the centre and had refused to leave the pool area.

Carole Mulroney, Southend councillor for environment, culture and tourism, said: “I was advised they were a group of young travellers who managed to get into the centre and caused a little bit of a furore.

“The police were called and came and calmed it down.

“It was all over very quickly.

“I would like to say thank you to the police for being so responsive and getting there as quickly as they did and thank you to the staff for keeping cool under a crisis.”

READ MORE >>>

A post on Facebook from a resident claimed the centre was closed for a while because of the disturbance.

They said: “It was closed due to four traveller young men trespassing and taking over the pool and refusing to leave.

“The police had to be called and escorted them from the premises.”

An Essex Police spokesman confirmed officers attended the leisure centre, adding “no offences were disclosed and four people were asked to leave, which they did.”

A spokesman for Fusion Lifestyle, which runs the centre, said: “An incident took place at Shoebury Leisure Centre on Tuesday.

“The police were called and normal operations were quickly resumed.

“We would like to thank the police for their swift assistance with this matter.”

The incident came less than a day after widespread reports of “unruly” behaviour by a group of 150 at the Exchange Pub in Southchurch Road.

The group, who are thought to be from outside Southend, were reportedly throwing chairs and food around in the pub, according to the owner.

Large numbers of police were spotted at the scene to restore order, with a police spokesman saying several groups were asked to leave the area.