TRADERS fear another day of chaos on the seafront would run the risk of ruining their summer’s business as they praised police for taking proactive action. 

In a bid to prevent a repeat of scenes last week, Essex Police have put a huge dispersal order in place after being tipped off about a large gathering today. 

Videos and pictures on social media last week showed teens running amok in “scary scenes” – with some businesses forced to close early.

Paul Thompson, owner of Pebbles One café, said: “I think it is good Essex Police have put in a dispersal order early.

“It is an opportunity for Essex Police to show that they can deal with these situations.

“Hopefully, we won’t see a report of the scenes we had last time.

“We were forced to close early for safety reasons, and it is a big time of the year for us, so we don’t want to be closing early.

“We have been made aware through the police that there is a possibly of a gathering, and so I hope this time police will be prepared and show who is in charge.”

The order does not mean there is a blanket ban on people coming to Southend. It just gives officers the power to direct people suspected of acting anti-socially to leave the area. If they don’t, they could be arrested.

The order will be in place for up to 48 hours and will be reviewed regularly. The area covered is shown in the attached maps, and includes Southend High Street, Marine Parade, Pier Hill, Western Esplanade and Southend Central Train Station.

Matt Dent, councillor responsible for the Kursaal ward along the seafront, raised concerns following last week’s chaos and wanted a more proactive approach from Essex Police.

Following the announcement of the dispersal order yesterday, Mr Dent said: “I said after the problems last week, that I hoped to see a more proactive approach from police in Southend.

“I am really pleased that is the approach they are taking. Obviously, we don’t want to have trouble but having got the intelligence and having put this order in place to deal with anything happens, is the correct move.

“We don’t want the scenes we had last time, it is not a good look for anyone having that trouble. Precognition is always going to be better than reaction.”