THURROCK Council appears to be distancing itself from the appointment of a 'flexible community support officer' to enforce social distancing in the borough.

Along with other media, Thurrock News has reported an advertisement that was placed on social media employment websites seeking applications for the role.

The advertisement is placed by a company, called Kingdom Service Group, who have contracts with the council to patrol the borough and issue enforcement notices for things like littering.

The company has acquired a controversial reputation with several local authorities ending contracts and stopping working with the company for its aggressive pursuit of offenders.

Kingdom has been the driving force behind an anti-littering campaign in Thurrock which has been widely supported by senior members of the council.

Many local residents have been fined for dropping cigarette butts in the street.

Council leader Cllr Rob Gledhill has been an ardent fan of the campaign, saying: "If you deliberately litter the roads and footways of Thurrock, you will face a fine – don't pay that fine and you will face the magistrates."

And the leader of Thurrock's opposition, Labour's Cllr Jane Pothecary, spoke up in the wake of what appeared to be a new enforcement policy, saying: "There have been reports of the public ignoring the rules - playing football in parks for example - and the support officer's role will be to remind people of what they have to do."

However, in the face of a negative response to news of the pending appointment of a social distancing officer, Thurrock Council issued a statement this evening saying: "Following media coverage Thurrock Council would like to remind media that the flexible community support officer role isn't a vacancy being advertised by Thurrock Council.

"A company called Kingdom are advertising a community support role vacancy based in Thurrock."

Kingdom, on the other hand, appear to be saying the role is very much in conjunction with the authority, specifying in the job description that the role is 'to support the council'.

You can check out the job advertisement here.