Sir David Amess MP stabbed in Leigh church

MP Sir David Amess has been stabbed in major incident at his constituency surgery in Leigh.

The Tory MP for Southend West was holding a surgery at the Belfairs Methodist Church, in Eastwood Road North.

A man reportedly ran into the church in the last hour, before the MP was stabbed "several times".

A huge emergency presence has been spotted in the area nearby, alongside a police helicopter overhead.

David Amess had promoted the constituency advice surgery on his Twitter account on October 12.

He Tweeted: "My next constituency surgery will be taking place on Friday 15th October at Belfairs Methodist Church, 251 Eastwood Road North, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 4NG. To book an appointment please email amessd@parliament.uk or call 020 7219 3452".

Scottish Labour MP Monica Lennon tweeted: "This is awful and frightening news."Thoughts with David Amess, his family and team at this worrying time. Hope he recovers fully from this serious attack."

An employee of Jean’s Laundry, near Belfair’s Methodist Church in Eastwood Road, said she did not know anything about the situation but had seen emergency service vehicles go by.

“We just saw all the police and the ambulances turning up, it was probably about half past 12 or just before then,” she told the PA news agency.

“I saw about two or three ambulances and then an undercover police car and other police cars going past.

“There’s usually people walking past, elderly people walking to the shops. We’ve still got no idea what’s going on, we’re not very busy on a Friday and no one has come in to talk to us about it.”

Nick Jones tweeted: "Shocking to hear the reports of a serious incident with Sir David Amess MP (Southend West) today."My thoughts are with him, MPs must be able to serve their constituents in safety."

Sir David's office have declined to comment.

David Amess' Tweet

Essex Police was contacted for comment.

Sir David Amess is a member of the Conservative Party. He has been a member of Parliament since 1983. He was first MP for Basildon and then for Southend West since 1997.