THE police are drawing up contingency plans to cope with swine flu as the number of cases in the county continues to rise.

Essex Police is already stockpiling facemasks, handwipes and hand gel, which will be given to frontline staff should the outbreak reach a pandemic level.

Plans are also being put in place to make sure resources can cope, should large numbers of officers be stuck down with the virus.

So far, 295 people in England have been diagnosed with swine flu.

On Tuesday, the number diagnosed in Essex rose to 14, after two people in mid Essex and one in south-west Essex were found to have the virus.

Essex Police says its plans centre around diverting resources, including key staff and premises, intelligence-gathering and IT support.

The plans also highlight the most important departments to keep up-and-running, such as those which answer 999 calls and respond to calls from the public.

The force says it has stocked “appropriate” levels of facemasks and other anti-viral measures.