Police have warned they are not prepared for another summer of unrest as more protests are expected to follow those in Epping this week.

Protests in the Essex town, which began last weekend after a small boat migrant was charged with sex offences there, have so far seen a total of 10 people arrested.

But the unrest has been called a "signal flare" for more to come by Tiff Lynch, the head of the Police Federation.

She warned officers were being "pulled in every direction", saying commanders were "forced to choose between keeping the peace at home or plugging national gaps".

The number of officers involved in local policing has fallen by nearly 15 per cent since 2023, from nearly 68,000 to just over 58,000, according to figures from the Home Office.

Lynch also said it would be "dangerous to assume" officers would be able to "hold the line indefinitely" if violent riots and unrest continue to spread throughout the summer, writing for The Telegraph.

She said: "It would be comical if it wasn't so serious - and so familiar. Local commanders are once again being forced to choose between keeping the peace at home or plugging national gaps."

The warning comes after Essex Police came under fire for their handling of the Epping protests.

Footage emerged earlier this week of officers transporting pro-migrant protesters to the Epping hotel around which the unrest has centred.

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However, Ben-Julian Harrington, Chief Constable of Essex Police, denied these suggestions, while a spokesman for the force called them "categorically wrong".

Speaking to GB News, Harrington said: "We had officers there and they walked alongside to make sure they understood so they could intervene and prevent crime.

"That's what happened, that's what the photos show and that's what we did."

The force has confirmed that it took some anti-racism protesters away in police vans for their own safety as they were "clearly at risk of being hurt".

X | Police were seen escorting pro-migrant protesters to the Epping hotel

In response to the video, Nigel Farage said Essex Police "directly facilitated the unrest we saw" and demanded "heads must roll".

The Reform UK leader also warned that Britain was close to "civil disobedience on a vast scale" as pressure mounts on the Government to act.

The Prime Minister has told his Cabinet to fix Britain's "social fabric" or risk facing another summer of unrest, with Liz Lloyd, Downing Street's executive director of policy and delivery, warning that social cohesion was "fraying at the edges".

Lynch explained how the riots which erupted after the Southport killings last year "exposed the deep fragility within our public order policing system".

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Police at a protest outside an asylum hotel in Epping over the weekend

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PICTURED: Protesters gathered in Epping outside a migrant hotel

She added: "Officers were left to face missiles with little more than a shield and a short briefing. The risks were there in black and white - yet little has improved since."

Labour has promised 3,000 more neighbourhood officers and community support officers (PCSOs) will be recruited over the coming year.

When announcing the pledge in April, the PM said: "We've got to end this culture of crime that is destroying our communities."

Forces will also be expected to ensure police patrols take place in town centres and "hotspot" areas in peak times such as Friday and Saturday nights.

Lynch argued the problems go "far beyond pay", which has fallen by more than 20 per cent in real terms since 2010, according to the Police Federation.

She said: "This is about whether the country still values the men and women who step forward when everything else breaks down.

"Right now, many of them feel utterly abandoned."