Maldon's policing team has identified antisocial behaviour, county lines including substance abuse and shoplifting as the main issues it needs to address in the district.

The problems emerged at a meeting of Maldon Town Council (MTC) yesterday evening (Monday, 19 July), when Special Constable Bryan Trigg updated the council on issues of local concern.

Bryan said: "We have recently heard of a town crime scene which is taking off."

He said that residents will be surprised to hear about the issue of shoplifting in the town, and that substance abuse is not new but remains pressing - he cited nitrous oxide abuse in the district as an example.

Councillor Stephen Nunn asked what can be done to tackle "the strong smell of cannabis in the High Street".

Bryan said that the police needs more intel to be able to investigate this further. He added: "The more intel we get, the more chance we get on patrols."

Issues of substance abuse in the district came to light earlier this year, when the leader of a Maldon-based criminal operation that supplied cocaine across East and North Essex was jailed in April for a total of 18 years.

At Abdul Hamid's sentencing, Judge Simon Mayo QC said: "The scale of this conspiracy was enormous."

There will be undercover patrols in Maldon going forward in an effort to address the problems identified by the policing team.

MTC subsidises two special constables, including Bryan, under the Special Constable scheme. The initiative, unique to Essex Police, requires constables to police each community to tackle problems which matter most to their neighbourhood. Maldon's special constables were appointed in November.

The special constables have been carrying out a number of patrols in the district, including, Bryan said, areas in which they are not usually seen to patrol.

He said: "We're there to make sure that people feel safer within our district."