Police have arrested a man after a spectator was hit by a car during a cruising event near a south Essex shopping centre.

Officers were called to reports of cars racing in the West Thurrock Way area, near Lakeside Shopping Centre, with a large number of spectating at around 10.55pm yesterday (April 30).

It was reported a spectator was hit by one of the vehicles and injured. Temporary Chief Inspector Tony Atkin says they have sustained "potentially serious injuries".

A 24 year-old man from Colchester has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of a crash. He is currently in custody.

Temp Chief Insp Atkin, district commander for Thurrock, said: “Car cruising events can be intimidating and cause disruption for residents, but they also pose a very real danger to those taking part.

“In this particular case, someone has sustained potentially serious injuries and we’re investigating what led up to them being hurt.

“My officers are working hard with our partners to tackle these types of incidents and prevent them from taking place.

“There is a specific police and partnership operation that tackles car cruisers at Lakeside. The local partnership and police make use of a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) and partnership patrols.

“We have been working with local businesses at Lakeside to tackle this issue.

“We have already started proactively targeting event organisers before and after events. These organisers have been served with Community Protection Warning (CPWs) which prevent them from arranging further car meets anywhere in the country or run the risk of criminal prosecution;

“This pro-active approach saw a reduction in offences and calls in the summer. A reduction by 18 per cent.

“I am also working with Thurrock Council’s highways team to look at long-term traffic calming measures.”

Anyone with information, CCTV, dash cam or other footage in relation to this incident, should contact Essex Police on their website or by calling 101, quoting incident 1581 of 30 April.