A MAN has been charged with six offences after a late night high-speed police chase.

Six police cars, the force helicopter and a dog unit were all called in to chase after a stolen Peugeot 206 as it sped through Southend and Prittlewell.

Officers first tried to pull over the car, which had three men on board, as it drove along Southchurch Avenue, without lights on just after midnight on Friday.

But it didn't stop and residents reported police cars racing along Sutton Road and Eastern Avenue in pursuit.

The stolen car eventually stopped near Pantile Avenue in Prittlewell with those in the car trying to escape on foot. However, officers later arrested three men.

Courtney Brown, 31, of no fixed abode, was charged with dangerous driving, assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, failing to stop for police, possession of heroin and driving with no insurance.

He was remanded in police custody and was due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court today.

At the same time as Brown’s arrest, 47-year-old man from Southend was arrested on suspicion of unlawful vehicle taking and a 41-year-old man from Southend was arrested for allowing himself to be a passenger in a stolen car.

They have been bailed until September 16 pending further enquiries.