Essex emergency: Police swarm busy high street after 'hammer' chaos in broad daylight
POLICE have swarmed Brentwood High Street due to an incident involving a hammer.
Essex Police Chief gives statement following David Amess murder
Essex Police said there were reports of "damage being caused to a premises" along the High Street. They said officers will remain on the scene for most of the afternoon. It is believed no one has been injured.
An Essex Police spokesperson said: "We are on the scene of an incident in Brentwood which was reported to us shortly before midday today, Saturday 29 January.
"We were called to reports of damage being caused to a premises [on the] High Street.
"Our investigation has shown the damage to be caused by a suspect using what appears to be a hammer.
"We can confirm that no one has been injured.
"At this stage, no arrests have been made.
"There is a significant police presence in the area, and we anticipate that will continue throughout the afternoon.
"Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information on it should contact us on 101 citing incident 544 of today, January 29."
READ MORE: Road sealed off after attack near Essex Police station
In October, Essex was rocked after Conservative MP, Sir David Ames, was stabbed multiple times during a meeting with his constituents in Leigh-on-Sea, in Essex.
Sir David's death sparked a debate on the safety of MPs in public life, and whether they should be provided with police protection during surgeries, with arguments for metal detectors and pat downs before members of the public see their MP having been put forward.
Home Secretary Priti Patel asked for all police forces to review security arrangements for MPs “with immediate effect” following Sir David's death.
She did, however, vow to keep MPs' surgeries open.
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She said: "We are open to surgeries, doing our job. We will continue to do that.
"David was a dear friend of mine and a loyal friend and colleague, a man of the people.
"He was killed serving his own constituents and constituency members.
"We will carry on, we live in an open society, a democracy.
"We cannot be cowed by any individual or any motivation... to stop us from functioning, to serve our elected democracy."