A MAN who was subject of a five day manhunt has been charged.

Mark Box, 29, of Southend, was arrested and charged with five offences today and will appear before Southend magistrates tomorrow.

Shortguns and rifles used for sporting purposes and worth £100,000 were stolen from a lorry in the Burnt Mills Industrial Estate in Basildon on April 18.

On Tuesday, May 13 armed police stormed three houses in Southend, Westcliff and Benfleet in the hunt for the guns. It is alleged Box sparked a police chase through Southend and Leigh as officers purused him in a white Volkswagen van.

Box was arrested at Southend police station and later charged with one count of possessing firearms without certificates, one count of handling stolen firearms, one count of driving while disqualified, one count of dangerous driving and one count of producing a Class B drug.

The unemployed man of no fixed abode has been detained in police custody before his appearance tomorrow.