IN the wake of continuing concern from residents about gangs of young people causing problems and threatening violence in the east of the borough the Essex Police sergeant in charge of town centre policing has called on residents to let the force have as much information as possible.

Comments about problems in Stanford-le-Hope - and particularly Corringham - town centres have been a common appearance on local social media sites.

And residents on there have said that despite reporting offences - little appears to be done!

Sgt Ben Forbes, the town centre team lead for Thurrock, has commented on recent concerns, saying: "I'm aware of recent videos that have been circulating on social media surrounding a pocket of anti-social behaviour in Stanford-le-Hope and Corringham Town Centres.

"I have launched an investigation into this, which will be co-led by the Stanford-le-Hope Town Centre Team and the dedicated community officer for Corringham.

"We will do everything we can to identify those responsible and prevent this kind of behaviour from happening any further. This will take time, but most importantly, I need anyone with information about these incidents to report them to us. This will enable me and my team to have an accurate picture of what is going on and gather the evidence we need for our investigation.

"As I have promised since we launched our Town Centre policing teams in July of this year, my absolute goal is to make our town centres safer by working with you, the community and the heart of our town centres and you have my commitment that we are taking these matters seriously.

"If you would like to speak to a member of the Community Policing Team, please dial 101 or in emergencies 999 or alternatively, go onto the Essex Police – Thurrock Facebook Page and press 'Contact Us'."

However, a number of residents say that reporting incidents appears to be a waste of their time.

Among them is local resident Jenny Benton, who raised concerns about a gang of five youngsters in the area.

She says youngsters have been: "wielding a Samurai sword, a knife and a cosh. They are not afraid to let people know that they are prepared to "chef" you!!

"They are known to many locally and it probably won't be long until either they progress to actually using their weapons or someone bigger reacts to their threats."

Asked about reporting the young people, Ms Benton - who adds she has suffered damage to her home which she believes was caused by the youngsters, says: "It has been reported but as I said they couldn't prove who it was and couldn't then find them."

Other residents have raised concerns, prompting ward councillor Shane Ralph to comment: "It's such a shame that Corringham and Stanford town centres are being ruled by a small gang of teens that are hell bent on terrorising shoppers and residents."

He has also expressed his concern about the effectiveness of local policing teams but shares a view with Sgt Forbes that people must report incidents.

He concluded: "We have not had real sight of the new town centre police teams.

"But the rise on the number of incidents lately might not show up in the local crime figures if we don't report what we see."