Is summer trouble turning the tide on Southend's appeal?

For generations, Southend-on-Sea has been a popular seaside destination.

It is home to a host of attractions, including the world's longest pleasure pier at 1.33 miles (2.16km), and its Grade II-listed Kursaal was one of the world's first purpose-built amusement parks.

But for the past few years, the Essex family resort has seen a spate of violent crimes, especially during the summer months.

What is being done to tackle the problem and what do people in the city think?

Southend has been informally known as "London's beach" due to its proximity to the capital's East End.

Ten people were sentenced in 2025 after a "beach rave" led to violence erupting between "two rival gangs" on the seafront the year before.

The defendants, aged between 15 and 19, were given custodial terms of up to eight years at Basildon Crown Court.

Earlier this month, Essex Police imposed a two-day dispersal order over concerns about large groups of young people gathering.

It mirrored similar action taken in both summer 2022 and 2023 ahead of anticipated aggravation.

And they imposed another on Tuesday, due to expire on Thursday morning.

At railway stations, they also turned away hundreds of people who were heading for an unofficial beach party in the city.

Social media had been used to advertise the "Southend Takedown" and the "32C Southend Beach Step".

Essex Police said "significant numbers of young people" had been expected to travel to the city for the event.

It said officers prevented more than 600 people from travelling into Southend at railway stations.

More than 230 stop and searches were carried out, and 13 arrests were made, including eight of wanted individuals identified using live facial recognition technology.

Officers also seized three knives and two gas-powered air weapons.

"Any issues identified yesterday [Tuesday] were dealt with swiftly through proactive and visible policing," a spokesperson said.

The force said it was continuing to work with British Transport Police and the city council's CCTV operators on Wednesday.

It added that it had deployed a large number of additional officers in Southend.

Daniel Cowan, Labour leader of Southend City Council, told BBC Essex: "Southend has been welcoming people for generations and we want to remain an open and vibrant seaside city.

"Hundreds of people turned away before they even reached Southend and hundreds turned away at the doors of Southend and getting off the train.

"We didn't see the sort of shocking scenes we saw a few years ago, with weapons being brandished and used.

"Things are a lot better but let's not be complacent."

Cowan said Southend would always be welcoming "but that doesn't mean we are a soft touch".

He said Southend would remain open to visitors "while taking an uncompromising approach to anyone who wants to come here and ruin the city for others".

Debbie Hands, who has lived in the city's Southchurch district for 40 years, said: "I do not feel safe in Southend at all during the summer holidays or the weekends when the weather is nice."

In summer, the city was a "no-go area", she said.

Louise Jones from Harlow, who was visiting for the day with her grandson, told the BBC: "I feel quite safe here."

She said it was great that work was being done to make the city safer.

"Anywhere that is family orientated, you need to make sure it's safe," she added.

Peter French, of Thurrock, said he regularly came to Southend for a day out when the weather was nice to "enjoy the sunshine".

"We've come here quite often. There is plenty of police about," he said.

"The amount of time I've been here, I've never known any trouble here."

In 2024, Bayo Alaba, Labour MP for Southend East and Rochford, said a different approach to policing in the city was needed.

However, he spoke to BBC Essex again and said: "Yesterday [Tuesday] was a good example of what you do with a very popular coastal community that has a large influx of people that come in.

"It was a good example of how you manage that."

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