Essex Police today hit back after being criticised for its lack of officers.

A national paper today revealed there was only 38 officers on duty last Wednesday night in Clacton - and the figure was just 28 after midnight.

It said the Tendring area, with a population of 150,000 which included the port of Harwich and the resort of Clacton, was not alone in lacking officers at night.

It said in Southend there were 75 officers on duty during the same period, covering 180,000 people.

The paper claimed the figures showed a force which was "stretched to the limit".

An Essex Police spokeswoman today said Essex was one of the safest places to live and that the force was hoping to boost its ranks.

She said: "The figures are a fair reflection of the number of officers on duty on a typical weekday evening. Essex Police will be bidding for a share of the extra 5,000 officers the Home Office has said will be made available to forces.

"Essex is one of the safest counties in the country and we provide a quality policing service to the people of Essex."

Recent figures showed more crimes were being detected in Tendring than anywhere in Essex.

Detection of crime from April to September was 36 per cent compared with a county average of 27 per cent.

Clacton Police also launched a campaign to crackdown on town centre crime.

Operation Snowman involves officers out on the streets working closely with CCTV operators and shopkeepers to catch offenders.

And a crime audit was published this year to help combat crime by working with other partners, such as Tendring Council.

The audit showed Tendring had the biggest overall drop in crime in Essex over the previous year and one of the top detection rates.

However, 53 per cent of youths aged over 13 admitted to doing something unlawful and over half had taken drugs.

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