Two in hospital with knife wounds after mass brawl of THIRTY armed youths breaks out in Southend

Two teenagers have been left in hospital with knife injuries after a mass brawl broke out in Southend-on-Sea.

Police said a "large-scale" fight had erupted in the Essex seaside city - with as many as 30 youths thought to have been involved in the chaos.

Police said weapons were seen and used during the incident, including knives and bottles.

The two injured teenagers receiving treatment in hospital for non-life-threatening injuries to their faces.

On social media, one eyewitness said he had "just got back into town from London when it was all kicking off".

"One young lad I see had blood from a wound on his face," he added.

Another added: "So sad that you can’t even feel safe walking the streets anymore."

She said she had been caught up in the unrest with her nephew, just six, who was "shaking and telling me: 'Auntie Kate, I'm so scared.'

A "joyful evening" had turned into her nephew "going to bed asking: 'Why was them people fighting,' and telling me he had such a good day, but the ending just ruined it," she added.

Officers remained at the scene on Friday night in a bid to restore calm.

Police were also forced to issue a dispersal order covering Southend High Street, Queensway through to Hamlet Court Road and along the seafront.

They also invoked stop‑and‑search powers under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, letting officers search people and vehicles for weapons without suspicion.

A further Section 60AA order was in place giving police the power to compel youths to remove their face coverings in the area.

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In summer 2024, Southend found itself at the centre of a major outcry over youth violence after a similar night of unrest.

Crowds of young people were seen running across the seafront at Jubilee Beach and clashing with police.

Further footage appeared to show three youths fighting each other with machetes.

Martin Richardson, the owner of the Happidrome Arcade on Marine Parade, went on to tell GB News how the youngsters had descended on the area after a social media video called for a "rave" on the beach.

It included the area's postcode and instructed partygoers to "bring your own weed, balloons and laughing gas".

Southend's proximity to London means troublemakers use the seafront as a "stage" for violence, Mr Richardson told Britain's News Channel just days after the chaos.

Footage of the brawl was "truly alarming", local MP Bayo Alaba said, and warned there appeared to be a "pattern" of violence in the city during the summer.

At the time, Essex Police Ch Supt Leighton Hammett described the violence as "regrettable".

He said the force was "going to work really hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again".