ARMED police officers patrolling public events across south Essex were met with a plenty of positivity, a top police officer has told the Echo.

Essex Police deployed high visibility armed patrols over the Bank Holiday weekend in the wake of last Monday’s terror attack in Manchester.

It comes as the force reported a surge in hate crime following the atrocity, which killed 22 fans of pop star Ariana Grande.

Visitors who flocked to Southend seafront to soak up the Bank Holiday sun were greeted by the unfamiliar sight of officers with machine guns and an armoured riot van.

Armed officers also patrolled train stations, Southend Airport, Garons Park in Southend, the Eastgate Centre in Basildon, Lakeside in Thurrock and other events across the county.

Insp Bill Potter, of Southend police, said many unarmed officers also worked 12 hour shifts to provide reassurance patrols, which ran in conjunction with the government’s unprecedented Operation Temperer.

The operation saw military personnel, many based in Colchester, deployed to major landmarks in London and across the UK after the Government said the terror threat leave was ‘critical’, meaning an attack is imminent.

Mr Potter said: “We had armed police out on the seafront and elsewhere - it was just for reassurance, there was never any specific threat to Essex.

“We had some quite high-powered meetings involving all the council and commercial leaders and every single one of them said there would be no problem. We have had some really positive feedback.”

Some of the feedback involved children and adults alike posing with the officers for photos on the seafront. The town’s force also posted photos of the officers, to mixed reactions.

But Anne Holland, Southend Council’s tourism chief, said the sight of armed officers at public events seems “a little bit weird”, but the public should feel reassured.

She said: “It’s a bit of a precaution and it’s just really part of the process. I think people should feel a bit better at the moment while such security is going on, it’s in their best interests.

“Hopefully it won’t be for long and it will get back to normal soon.”

The armed patrols are expected to be scaled back for the rest of this week after the terror alert level was downgraded to severe. Mr Potter said officers in Southend also spent time liaising with the town’s religious leaders and carried out reassurance patrols around mosques.

He said: “We are in really close contact with the mosques. Fortunately we have not seen a big rise in hate crime attributable to the attack.”