Colchester MP Bob Russell has told how he was forced to eject a man from his office just days before his close friend was attacked by a sword.

Lib Dem MP Nigel Jones was slashed by a sword-wielding attacker at the Liberal Democrat office in Cheltenham.

Mr Russell learnt of the vicious attack - which left Mr Jones needing hospital attention and his aide dead - just hours before holding a similar advice bureau with Colchester constituents on Saturday.

Reeling in shock, Mr Russell now plans to re-assess the security arrangements laid down for his Saturday constituency surgeries.

He said: "I was very shocked when the news came through the party office. Nigel and I are pretty close. I took over from him as party sports spokesman very recently, and we sat side by side last Wednesday."

"An MP has to be available and I am available. You cannot hide yourself away. I think it is something that could have happened to anybody at any time.

"I have only had one incident and that was just a month ago, when I had to order a man out of my office because his behaviour was unacceptable.

"I was able to order the man from the building. If he had not gone I would have activated our security measures."

He said he would be re-examining his security arrangements.

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