POLICE swarmed around a Laindon housing estate after members of the public feared they had seen a man brandishing a samurai sword in the street.

Officers were called to Great Oxcroft shortly before 2pm yesterday after residents raised the alarm.

The Essex Police helicopter was scrambled to search the area for the weapon-wielding man, as well as officers on the ground, but he was not found.

Following an extensive search of the area, the force believed that the phone call had been a hoax.

Pat O'Conner, secretary of the Five Links Residents Association, said the thought that a man had been brandishing a weapon in the street was "terrifying".

She said: "I was over at the James Hornsby School for the afternoon for a crafts club but I did hear the helicopter.

"It was up for quite a long time so I knew that something serious must have happened.

"It's really scary that that's why it was up.

"Hopefully he will be found."

Mrs O'Conner, who has lived in Mellow Purgess since 1974, said the area had changed dramatically in those years.

She said: "The area has gone really downhill. You never used to get things like this.

"I don't go out on my own at night anymore, you just don't know who is out there.

"This estate is full of little alleyways that people can use to hide inside."

An Essex Police spokesman said: "Police were called to Great Oxcroft shortly before 2pm yesterday, following reports that a man had been seen with an offensive weapon.

"Officers attended and searched the area but nobody was found.

"We believe that the telephone call was a hoax."

A knife amnesty bin, sponsored by the anti-knife crime charity Only Cowards Carry, has been placed outside the Chalvedon Community Centre in Pitsea.

It allows people to safely and anonymously discard weapons no questions asked.

The bin was placed in Pitsea in the wake of the fatal stabbing of Darren Kelly on October 20 in Caister Drive.

Any witnesses or anybody with information can call Essex Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Alternatively they can visit crimestoppers-uk.org.