A SECURITY guard has been cautioned for making obscene and menacing anonymous calls to two Basildon councillors – causing one of them to have an angina attack.

Christopher Potts, 29, from Southend, a guard at the Laindon Centre, recieved the official warning for a string of abusive phone calls to Phil and Pat Rackley.

Mr and Mrs Rackley, both 60, from Devonshire Road, Laindon, spoke of their terrifying ordeal and disappointment Mr Potts was not formally charged, taken to court and jailed.

Police described the calls as “offensive, indecent, obscene and menacing”.

The only condition of the caution is Potts must write an apology letter to the Labour councillors for St Martin’s Ward.

Mr Rackley, who suffered a serious angina attack after one of the calls, said: “This was a very frightening experience. His calls were extremely threatening and abusive.”

Mrs Rackley added: “I would have liked him to have been taken through the courts for what he has done to us.

“The worst call was at 6.20am, when he said it was about time we both died.

“He also warned Phil in another call to drive carefully from a council meeting, incase we didn’t make it home.

“We had no idea who was making the calls, and couldn’t understand how anybody could hate us so much.”

Following a police investigation, Potts was indentified as the mystery caller and arrested on January 19.

Mr and Mrs Rackley think Potts made the calls, between December 9 and January 16, because of their repeated criticism in the Echo of his employer Laindon Regenera-tion, which owns the Laindon Centre.

They slammed the firm for failing to rebuild the run-down Sixties shopping centre and allowing it to become covered in weeds, graffiti and litter.

Donna Veasey, police spokeswoman, said: “Police have cautioned a 29-year-old man from Southend for offensive, indecent, obscene and menacing telephone calls to an address in Devonshire Road.”

Pinato Katherine, spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “In this case, it felt a conditional caution was more appropriate than a prosecution through the courts.”

Laindon Regeneration would not say if Potts has been sacked following the caution. Potts was not at work at his Laindon Centre office when the Echo tried to contact him for a comment yesterday.