The future of policing in Essex is being decided in secret.

Decisions about job cuts, which police stations will close and how crime will be tackled in the county in the future are being discussed behind closed doors.

The final blueprint will be made public, at the end of August, once the decisions have been made but how and why certain choices were made will remain private.

Essex Chief Constable Jim Barker-McCardle was due to give a public presentation, at a meeting of the Essex Police Authority (EPA) yesterday followed by another in private.

But at the last minute the authority decided to move all the discussions to the private part of the meeting, usually reserved for items containing exempt information such as information about individuals.

Anthony Jackson, chairman of the EPA, told the meeting that because the changes proposed are “substantial” and “ground breaking for Essex” the chief constable wants their input.

But the chairman wanted all discussion to be held in private because “questions arising may be inextricably linked” to the private part of the agenda.

Several members argued for the presentation to remain public and criticised the lack of transparency and public engagement if all was hidden.

However the authority voted, by majority, to discuss the future of crime prevention in Essex away from the public gaze for now.