POLICE bosses have confirmed they were called to reports of a 'teenage fight club' but officers were "satisfied that no criminal offences had taken place".

The response comes after reports that teenagers are running an illegal fight club and boxing bouts in a park.

Wickford councillor Peter Holliman said he was aware it had happened on at least two occasions adding it was better they had gloves on than knives in their hands.

Residents took to social media after spotting a large group of teenagers, believed to be roughly 15 and 16-years-old, creating a circle and watching two youths box, wearing boxing gloves, in Memorial Park, Wickford.

One resident said: “Group of teen boys, two with boxing gloves fighting in the middle of a circle in the Beauchamps playing field of memorial park.

“Essex Police have been called and attended the scene but half of them ran and hid in the ditch to avoid being seen with the gloves.

“Awful behaviour. It’s meant to be Christmas holidays.”

Mr Holliman said: “This has been mentioned to me a few times to me now, and I know for a fact it has been happened twice.

“It is a tough one, and it has had a mixed reception among residents.

“Clearly, as they have boxing gloves, this is something that has been organised inside the group, so it is not random fights breaking out.

“Some are saying let them get on with it, it is better they have gloves on than knives in their hands.

“And I do air on the side that this is nowhere near as bad as some of the issues we have dealt in in the community.

“On the other hand, you say what if someone takes a blow and is hurt, it is the worst case scenario, but at least they are in a large group.

“I would take the view, that with everything else going on, this is not the end of the world, but the last thing we want is to see this escalate negatively and we see someone seriously hurt.

“It needs to be monitored, but I don’t think we need immediate action, we don’t need to cover the park in CCTV to stop this.”

A spokesman for Essex Police, reporting on one of the incidents, said: “We were called to reports of an alleged fight near to Beauchamps Drive, Wickford, just before 3pm on December 19.

"Officers attended and spoke to a group of teenagers in the area. We are satisfied that no criminal offences had taken place. We always welcome reports of potential criminal behaviour.”

You can visit www.essex.police.uk/do-it-online/report-a-crime/ or call 101 or 999 if there is an emergency.