Roger Hirst, the Conservative Party candidate, has been re-elected as Essex County Police Fire and Crime Commissioner.

The results were as follows:

Hirst, Roger, The Conservative Party Candidate 235,346 (Elected)

Tilbrook, Robin Charles William, English Democrats - "More Police - Catching Criminals!" 42,831

Vince, Chris, Labour and Co-operative Party 99,712

Whitehouse, Jon, Liberal Democrat 58,131

Roger said: "This is a sobering level of endorsement from the people of Essex. I am grateful that they are clearly appreciating what we have been doing over the past five years. We have achieved 500 extra police officers with a commitment of further investment and with more officers to come.

"We are improving the culture of the fire and rescue service with a focus on prevention and protection. It is really exciting that this programme has been endorsed by the public of Essex."

He added: "I would like to say thank you to everyone involved in the election across the county, in particular the Police Area Returning Officer Adrian Pritchard and his team."

The role of a PFCC is to work with local partners to prevent crime and hold their chief constable to account for the performance of the force.

They have a "democratic mandate" to respond to local people's concerns and can set local force's policing priorities and their local police force budget.

They can appoint, and where necessary dismiss, the chief constable.

PFCCs are also responsible for commissioning community support systems for victims of crime.

PFCCs appoint the Chief Fire Officer, hold them to account and have the power to dismiss them if necessary.

The elected candidates also set the fire and rescue objectives and ensure budgets are spent effectively.