The air ambulance has landed in Pitsea after a woman's heart stopped when she suffered a cardiac arrest.

Paramedics were called to Althorne Close at about 10.15am today to reports that a woman in her 60s had stopped breathing.

When they arrived, they found the woman had suffered a cardiac arrest, was unconscious and not breathing.

Following treatment and CPR, the paramedics managed to get her heart beating again and she started making some effort to breathe.

She was taken to Basildon Hospital where she remains in a critical condition.