ESSEX Fire and Rescue Service has attended more than 60 flooding incidents across the county.

These include flooding in homes, workplaces, on roads and cars trapped in flood water. During this time service control officers have taken hundreds of calls to flood related incidents.

Senior divisional officer Paul Hill said: “Despite the high number of incidents and even higher number of calls received the Service has coped excellently.

“Throughout the early hours today both crews and control operators have been extremely busy.

“As the county deals with the flooding caused by last night’s rain we are urging people to take extra precautions to ensure they do not place themselves or their families in danger.

“Motorists should be especially careful. Do not drive into standing water, just a few inches of water is enough to badly damage an engine and leave you and your car stranded.”