Essex Police were alerted to an incident at Johnson Newsagents, a convenience shop in London Road, Lexden, shortly after 11.30am this morning.

A man threatened the female cashier with a knife and demanded money from the till.

He then left, taking about £200.

Thankfully the victim was not hurt, and she is being supported.

Officers were quickly sent to the scene and took a detailed description of the man.

PD Pablo then picked up a trail, which led officers to a man who they stopped and arrested.

A knife was found nearby and was seized.

A 44-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of robbery. He remains in custody for questioning.

The investigation will now be led by Colchester CID.

Detective Inspector Tim Coyles said: “No one should face the threat of violence whilst simply going to work – and any report made to us concerning this will see a really robust response.

“Officers got there very quickly after the report was made, which meant we were able to very quickly identify a person of interest and ultimately make a key arrest.”

Hamesh Patel, owner of the Johnson Newsagents, said that the cashier was “scared and afraid”.

Mr Patel called the response by police “fantastic” and added: “The local community all came together in the search with police within minutes.

“Jason Flynn of Flynn Roofing Services, Jonathan Webster director of Butterfly’s Care Homes – two of they’re care homes are next door.

“The police sent numerous uniformed police, CID and forensics were on the scene in minutes.

“I’ve never seen the police act so fast and they were so brilliant.”

St George’s Church of England Primary School, in Brook Street, Great Bromley, is closed today due to “site issues” and the school has been listed in Essex County Council’s emergency closure list.

A statement on the school’s website confirmed it had to shut down yesterday due to experiencing an issue with its water supply.

It said: “We are unable to operate as usual.

“Further updates will be communicated via parent mail”.

The Essex County Council emergency closure list also says that “remote education” will be taking place for pupils whilst the school is shut.

Tammy, who is just nine-weeks-old, was born with swimmers syndrome, which is more commonly known as frog legs syndrome.

All kittens are born with loose ligaments which tighten up as they grow in their first days and weeks.

​But sometimes those ligaments fail to tighten properly and can cause the legs to splay laterally in a frog-like position, meaning they cannot use those limbs correctly.

Her owner Ben Curran, 20, is doing everything he can to make sure Tammy gets to live the life she deserves.

He said: “We think her tendons are extremely stressed and because she has had it from birth it has caused her legs to form how they have formed.

“This has made it impossible for her to walk normally.”