THE leader of Thurrock Council has called on residents who are concerned about the impact of anti-social behaviour to work with the authority and share their fears. In particular he says they should call the police whenever there is a problem.

Cllr Rob Gledhill was responding to comments in the wake of a large grass fire close to the new estate at Woodside in Grays last week.

Residents spoke of their growing concern about problems in the area and singled out the council for criticism for not doing enough to combat problems.

However, Cllr Gledhill says the council needs to know what is happening before it can act and that means people sharing their knowledge.

He said: "This area is privately owned and is not part of housing land owned by the council. Although Essex Fire have advised that the cause of the fire is unknown, unfortunately this spread quickly due to the grass being so dry because of the hot weather.

"I would like to thank the brave fire crews who attending the scene to keep our residents safe.

"Upon checking our records at the council, there were some noise nuisance motorbikes reported at the end of June 2020 but we have had no further reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in this area.

"Residents must report ASB to the police as soon as they can by calling 101. If it is an emergency or crime is happening 999 must be called to ensure the appropriate action can be taken by the relevant authorities.

"We take ASB seriously and work closely with Essex Police to tackle this issue. We have invested over £2m to tackle ASB and improve the environment across the borough with measures including extra police resource. However our residents need to help us by reporting it when, or as soon after, it happens."

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