THURROCK'S police officers found themselves on the ball and the centre of attention at the weekend – on a local sports court.

On Sunday, all of the borough force's community policing team were deployed to #Corringham and Stanford for proactive patrolling.

After they had seized some drugs during the search of a person, they were then approached by a large group of young boys playing football who invited them to play.

A statement from the team says: "It is very rare that we get approached for things like this so the officers took the opportunity for some positive engagement whilst they could! Four of the officers joined in for a quick game whilst the others continued with patrols around the area.

"For the officers to hear that their engagement changed some of the children's negative perception of the police into a positive one really lifted their spirits.

"If you see officers around, don't be afraid to come and speak to us!"