The Essex Police Marine Unit has begun its patrols along the Essex coastline to help reduce anti-social behaviour linked to personal watercraft, or jetskis, over the spring and summer.

Working with partners including Brightlingsea Harbour,  officers have been out on the River Blackwater and River Colne, speaking with people on the water, sharing safety advice, and enforcing local rules where needed.

Over recent years the unit has stopped and questioned hundreds of users, and has claimed considerable reductions in speeding and other offences.

The unit also regularly boards commercial vessels operating in Essex waters to check on the welfare of crews, and also to identify any signs of modern‑day slavery or human trafficking and exploitation, which police say can sometimes go unseen within the maritime environment.