SENIOR councillors have visited Southend seafront in the wake of violent scenes seen last weekend to reassure residents the city is safe and encourage families to continue to visit.

Following trouble last Tuesday night – which led to eight people being arrested and charged – major concerns were raised by traders and residents that Southend’s reputation had been tarnished by the violence.

Some traders reported a 50 per cent drop in trade in the days following but council leader Daniel Council and councillor for Tourism Matt Dent have insisted Southend continues to be a great place to enjoy “a fantastic summer”.

Mr Dent added that he understands the worry but work went into making sure Southend had a “safe and quiet weekend” following the dramatic week.

He said: “I know that people were worried after Tuesday and understandably but a lot of work went into making sure that we had a safe and quiet weekend here in Southend, and that’s exactly what we had.

“We had events across the city, we had the Anglo-Saxon weekend in Priory Park we had the fair at Chalkwell Park.

“Here, down on the seafront, you know we have people coming to the beach. Families coming to enjoy themselves in the sun and having a good time and there was no trouble at all. It was quiet.

“Just come on down to Southend and have yourself a fantastic summer.”

Mr Dent also highlighted future events coming to the city, including a visit by the replica Spanish war ship El Galeon later this month as he urged residents to continue visiting the seafront.

Despite fears that a further “beach party” was being organised on social media for Saturday, police insisted the weekend was “quiet and peaceful” in Southend and Mr Cowan moved to reassure residents Tuesday was a “rare occurrence”.

He said: “We know last Tuesday we had a really serious incident in the city but it’s really important to know that that is a rare occurrence. It’s not something that happens very often and it is something that has been dealt with by the police quite rapidly.

“We know that the response to it was proportionate, that the perpetrators were very quickly arrested and weapons taken off of the street and there has been a response to other planned events such as last Thursday and Saturday. On Saturday that four arrests were made of people before they got into Southend to cause trouble.”