Essex sea 'tragedy' LIVE: Rescue services race to beach in major response to 'family' incident

Emergency services have urged people to avoid a beach in Essex after what the coastguard rescue team described as a “tragic incident”.The West Mersea Coastguard Rescue Team said on Facebook early on Thursday that it had been called to near Seaview Avenue in West Mersea, Colchester, on Wednesday evening.In its statement, it said: "We have responded to a tragic incident on West Mersea beach."Our team and West Mersea Lifeboat Station – RNLI were first on scene."We will not be making any further comment on the details at this time and leave this task to Essex Police as an ongoing incident."Our thoughts are with the family involved.”The nature of the incident has not been disclosed.Essex Police said in a Facebook post: “While we remain on scene, we would ask the public to avoid the Seaview Avenue and beach area.“We appreciate that this will cause some local issues, but would ask for your patience and understanding as we may be there for some time yet.” This is a breaking news story....