A UKIP councillor was attacked on his way to a public meeting in East Tilbury.

James Baker, who represents the ward, was assaulted by a gang of four who hurled abuse at him before throwing stones and bricks, as he made his way to a meeting on Friday night over proposals for 1,000 new homes in the village.

His head was cut open and police have been informed of the incident.

Mr Baker said: "It is deeply concerning that a Councillor is unable to safely walk through their ward to attend meetings to support their community without being attacked.

"I am sorry I was unable to visit the Cogent Land meeting yesterday or join local residents on the protest today, I am fully committed to stopping this unwanted development but needed time to recover.

"I will continue to focus on my casework as a local councillor as supporting the interests of the residents of my community and the vulnerable people in our society is my number one priority, regardless of the action of fear and intimidation from any individuals.

Group Leader, Councillor Graham Snell said: "The perpetrators of this attack should be ashamed of themselves, thankfully, aside from being a little rattled, Councillor Baker is OK. However, it is just this kind of incident that the Police have said they may not attend due to the severe reduction in officer numbers caused by the huge funding cuts imposed by the Tory Government.

"Issues of anti-social behaviour have been allowed to escalate in communities resulting in residents being put in danger.

"The government need to decided if they believe the safety of residents is important or not, because their continued political agenda of slashing police budgets is not acceptable."