POLICE carried out a day of action in Frinton and Walton as thousands of daytrippers flocked to the resorts.

Officers were joined by Tendring’s chief inspector Lily Benbow for the operation along with members Tendring Council’s licensing team, the coastguard and town councillors.

The day of action included checks on off-licences, patrols of the seafront and speed checks.

Daytrippers flocked to the resorts last Thursday and Friday as an easing of lockdown restrictions coincided with warm weather.

Residents were left angry by anti-social behaviour and poor parking as visitors descended on Frinton’s famous Greensward, including vehicles parking in ambulance bays in The Esplanade.

Picnicking families were also forced to flee following a brawl on the greensward on Friday evening, according to shocked neighbours.

Police held a socially distanced briefing at Walton Police Station before patrolling Walton town centre with councillor Paul Clifton and Frinton town centre with mayor Fiona Robertson.

Ms Benbow said: “This was a really positive day where we able to have some really useful engagement with the communities in Frinton and Walton.

“Residents raised issues to us such as parking on the seafront as people want to make use of our fantastic beaches.

“While this is not something we as the police have powers to deal with, we will work with our partners to try and resolve this situation.

“No one organisation can fix a particular issue on its own which is why partnership work is so important.

“We have really fantastic relationships with our partnerships in Frinton and Walton and across the Tendring district.

“I want to thank all of our partners who took part in the day and reassure the people we spoke to that we will be working together to address the issues they raised to us.”

Frinton councillor Terry Allen said he was upset by the behaviour of some visitors to the seafront.

“We will not put up with anti-social behaviour from people from outside our area,” he said.

“They’ve driven many miles to get here and abuse our hospitality, upsetting other groups enjoying our seafront.

“Fighting on the seafront caused panic among our normal visitors - it is unacceptable.

“We’re not a busy seaside resort, Frinton is a seaside town.

“I have total empathy for the residents of Ibiza and Mallorca, who must get this all the time.

“If it was not for the lockdown badly behaving people would have probably been over there and not giving grief to us, but there’s no excuse for bad behaviour.”