ARSONISTS burnt down a mobile police station parked in the street where a horrific double stabbing took place.

The van was parked in York Road, Southend, on Sunday morning as part of a campaign to reassure residents after two men were knifed on Wednesday.

No officers were inside the station when it caught fire at 12.40am but witnesses said they saw a man standing nearby and it is being treated as arson.

An Essex Police spokesman said: “Police were called to reports of a fire in York Road, Southend at around 12.40am today, Sunday, October 30.

“Officers attended and found a van alight.

“Witnesses reported seeing a man besides the vehicle at the time that the fire started.”

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A 22-year-old man was left with chest injuries and a 39-year-old with back injuries after they were stabbed in the road.

The younger man had to fight for his life and was airlifted to Royal London Hospital.

He is expected to make a full recovery. The older man has now been discharged.

Detectives are still hunting those responsible but have not yet released a description of who they are looking for.

One of the stabbing victims had been found outside a caravan that just weeks earlier was raided by drugs squad officers, leading to three arrests.

The Echo can reveal that the caravan is not thought to have been involved in the incident but the owners towed it away on Thursday night, claiming it was being taken to a lock-up in Westcliff.

Instead, it was taken to an area near the Seaway car park in Lucy Road, Southend, where officers have been monitoring activity around it.

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Meanwhile, medics have praised members of the public who stepped in to help one of the victims as he lay bleeding.

Rick Davis, duty manager for the ambulance service, said: “They gave me a fantastic account of what they understood to have happened, the injuries they were aware of and other vital information.

“They gathered all this information in a short time all whilst performing correct, life-saving first aid – not moving the patient, applying pressure to bleeding wounds and keeping the patient talking.

“They continued to do this whilst I made an initial assessment of the patient’s condition and kept talking to the patient whilst I treated him.

“I would like to thank them for their continued help in what must have been a frightening situation to find themselves in.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Essex Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.