Bleary-eyed residents in Southend were woken early today (Tuesday) as the police helicopter swooped low over the town.

The chopper, based at Essex Police HQ in Chelms-ford, began flying circuits over Southend and Westcliff at around 12.20am.

It continued for more than ten minutes as householders clamoured to their windows to see the source of the noise.

One disgruntled resident in Grosvenor Road, Westcliff, said: "It made a heck of a racket - I just couldn't get back to sleep.

"It was flying so low the windows were pounding. I thought something pretty major must have been going on."

However, the helicopter was merely carrying out a routine training exercise, according to Insp Joe Roche of Southend police.

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