TWO new special constables will be on the beat in Grays after being part of the latest contingent of Essex Police recruits to pass out.

In total the force has welcomed 31 new Special Constables this month after hosting two attestation ceremonies in Chelmsford.

Seven will work from Basildon, five will work from Maldon and Braintree, four from Southend, three from Saffron Walden, two from Rayleigh, Grays and Colchester and one from Brentwood, Loughton and Newport.

The events were attended by Chief Constable BJ Harrington, Justice of the Peace Wendy Black and Jane Gardner, the Deputy Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

The Special Constables will volunteer to help keep residents safe as well as working their normal jobs that include secondary and primary school teachers, a town planner, a college head of department, a lighting designer, a hospital emergency technician and a chief cardiac physiologist.

Essex's Special Constabulary is the second largest in the UK and the fastest growing.