In a row over who is to blame for the low levels of police officers in Southend, a councillor said he would like to see the borough become a “police state”.

Arguments over the funding of police officers and how much taxpayers are expected to pay for them occurred during a debate over the council’s budget on Thursday evening.

The cabinet member for public protection, Councillor Mark Flewitt, told councillors he was “delighted” that increases to the police’s portion of council tax were leading to 365 new police officers in Essex over two years, including 150 already recruited from last year’s increase.

Mr Flewitt said that he is still waiting for confirmation on how many of the officers will be in Southend but Independent Councillor Martin Terry said the number being recruited is “not enough”.

“What we are going to get is two or three police officers in Southend, which is not enough,” he said.

“Interestingly enough recently a member of the public responded to one of the members of your administration saying we should get all 150 officers in Southend and one of your colleagues asked do you want a police state in Southend? Well actually, yes I do.

Read more: Murder probe after man stabbed to death in Southend

“We need a police state in Southend because at the moment it is out of control.”

He went on to accuse Mr Flewitt and the Conservative administration of not challenging crime commissioner Roger Hirst because he is “a member of the Tory club”.

In a somewhat muddled and heated response, Mr Flewitt, said: “Hang out someone to dry if it makes you feel better that’s absolutely fine with me, the fact of the matter is whoever is standing in this post has no more control over crime – he doesn’t go out and commit crimes.

"Jeremy Corbyn doesn’t go out and commit crimes and nor does the Prime Minister doesn’t go out and commit crimes, none of them do.

“It is time we turned attention to perpetrators of crimes and not keep worrying about them all the time. Worry about the victims that’s what we should worry about, not the perpetrators, worry about why the perpetrators are doing it, why are they doing it our lovely town.

“I don’t take the argument it’s because they are poor, I’m sorry I simply don’t believe that argument.”