A man was arrested and blood was splattered through the town after a burglary.

Initial reports were of blood near homes in a street and police later announced it was linked to a business being burgled.

Detectives linked the grizzly discovery, in Honeypot Lane, Basildon, to an incident in the nearby Southernay, where a business had been burgled.

One man has been arrested and was last night being questioned on suspicion of the burglary, while receiving treatment in hospital.

Officers closed the whole road with a large section of the pavement also cordoned off after the incident. The road was closed for at least an hour while officers investigated.

Residents said they were shocked by the scene outside their home.

Bob Cox, 71, said: “I have never seen such a large cordon.

“I did see the blood on the floor and it is always concerning.

“I do hope that anyone involved is doing OK now and not to badly injured.

“This is not the sort of incident you would expect to happen here. We have a nice little community with families and older people too.

“I think there would have been people about who witnessed it and they should report this to police.”

Margaret Dixson, 50, said: “It looked very serious with all the police in the street and the cordon.

“Some people were out in the street and asking officers what happened.

“I find it quite scary that we are having these things happen on our doorsteps.

“I hope this incident doesn’t cause people, and especially the older people, in the community to stop going out.

“I think it’s a surprise that the incident happened during the morning.”

A 28-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of burglary and is currently in hospital.

Anyone with any information about the incident should call Essex Police on 101 quoting incident 150 of March 26 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.