POLICE are hunting for a handgun after it was allegedly pulled out during a row in a street.

Police are searching for the weapon following reports it was brandished in Clickett Hill, Basildon.

Armed officers were called to a disturbance involving a large group of men at about 3.45pm on Saturday, before three of them were seen getting into a getaway car.

The police helicopter was dispatched as officers chased the black Renault Clio along the A127, before it came to a halt at Rayleigh Weir after smashing into a lamppost.

The incident came just 45 minutes after reports of a teenager hiding a gun down his trousers in Pomfret Mead - less than a mile away.

An Essex Police spokesman said: “Police were called at 3.45pm on Saturday, March 18 with reports of a disturbance in Clickett Hill, Basildon.

“A group of men were arguing and one was reported to have been seen with what appeared to be a gun. 

“Three of the men were seen to leave the scene in a Renault Clio, which was in collision with a signpost.

“Officers, assisted by a force helicopter, carried out a search of the area and the car was stopped on the A127 at Rayleigh Weir.

“A 24-year-old man from Basildon was arrested on suspicion of possession of firearms offences, failing to stop after an accident and harassment.

“He was released on bail until March 24, pending further enquiries.”

Chief Insp Sam Smith, district commander for Basildon, added: “We detained one male inside the car but there was no sign of any other men who may have been involved, they are still outstanding.

“No firearm was recovered and investigations are still ongoing to trace that.”

Armed police swarmed around Pomfret Mead after a member of the public raised the alarm about a group of ten teenagers smoking in a play area.

One of them appeared to have a gun stuffed down his trousers.

When officers attended the scene shortly after 3pm, they detained eight teenagers and discovered that the firearm was in fact a BB gun.

Police also recovered nunchucks. A 15-year-old boy from Laindon was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and released on bail until April 21, pending further enquiries.

Another teenager was arrested on suspicion of possessing an air weapon in a public place and has been bailed. Anyone with information can call police on 101.

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BASILDON does not have a gun problem despite a spate of firearms incidents, according to the town’s police chief.

Chief Insp Sam Smith, Basildon’s district commander, told the Echo that the two latest incidents on Saturday, which are not believed to be linked, are “highly unusual.”

She has urged residents to remain calm.

She said: “We do not get many firearms jobs in Basildon - we do not have a gun crime issue at all.

“One of the guns was recovered and fortunately it was an air weapon.

“I don’t want the people of Basildon to think that there is a gun crime problem, because I don’t believe that there is.”

Mrs Smith said that BB guns, or any types of air weapons, should never be used or carried around in public.

She said: “People should never take a BB gun out into the street - there is no reason to have a firearm in a public place.

“All it does it incites fear.

“If we get a report of someone carrying a gun, we don’t know whether it is a BB gun or not, so we have to treat the incident seriously.”