Essex Police have drafted plans for emergency headquarters in Harwich and Thurrock to cope with any problems with fuel protesters.

Officers in Essex are being put on alert and placed on 12-hour shifts.

The cost of the whole operation to the taxpayer could be hundreds of thousands of pounds.

In Harwich, the Park Pavilion, in Barrack Lane, has had to cancel several functions next week to accommodate a possible police presence while in Thurrock a building "in the Lakeside area" has been placed on standby.

The buildings will provide shelter and rendezvous points for officers who may have to face angry hauliers and farmers returning to blockade the ports and associated refineries.

In the last crisis, refinery buildings at both ports were targeted.

On Thursday, a spokesman for Essex Police said the rented buildings were part of an emergency contingency plan.

He said: "We hope for the best and plan for the worst."

He added the renting of the buildings and the extra police overtime could potentially cost hundreds of thousands - a price tag that would be met by the Home Office.

The police spokesman said: "If they (the extra officers) were to be needed, we have to make contingency plans to keep them sheltered. It will last for as long as necessary."

But he played down the possibility of trouble and said: "We are keeping it as low-key as possible.

"It is not a start of emergency powers. Last time we did not make a single arrest and we hope not to make one if blockades start again."

By David Grocott

Reporter's e-mail: david_grocott@thisisessex.co.uk

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