Braintree has become the centre of a fierce local row over Reform UK-led Essex County Council’s decision to spend up to £150,000 on private security patrols linked to concerns surrounding asylum seekers.

Two security operatives are now patrolling Braintree, alongside two each in Chelmsford and Colchester, under Operation Vanguard. The three-month trial began on 14 September and is being delivered by My Local Bobby, with six operatives covering the three locations.

But on Braintree’s streets, opinion is sharply divided.

Mick Purkiss, 75, dismissed the operation as “pretty much a scam”, arguing that he had never witnessed problems involving asylum seekers staying at the nearby Wethersfield accommodation centre.

“They stand around waiting for a bus, which we all do,” he said. “OK they’re in big groups – it’s not a problem.”

The security operation was launched after the Home Office announced plans to increase accommodation at Wethersfield. Essex County Council says the patrols are designed to provide a visible presence, reassure residents and deter anti-social behaviour.

The council has allocated up to £150,000 from its Community Innovation and Improvement Fund reserve for the initial three-month trial. The authority says there will be no additional cost to taxpayers from the scheme.

Yet one crucial fact is already fuelling the argument: the guards are not police officers.

They have no enforcement powers and cannot arrest people as part of their official duties. Any need for law enforcement must be reported to Essex Police, which remains responsible for criminal matters.

That distinction has left some residents questioning exactly what the patrols can achieve.

Allan Winder, 62, said he was unsure whether the operation would work. “I mean, they’re wandering around but what they’re actually doing, I don’t know,” he said.

Essex Police, meanwhile, says Braintree, Chelmsford and Colchester remain safe places and that all three have experienced less crime than three years ago. The force said that since June 2023 there had been 15 reported offences across Essex in which a member of the public was the victim and the suspect was identified as, or alleged to be, a Wethersfield service user.

Of those 15 incidents, six occurred in Colchester, three in Braintree and five in Chelmsford, according to police.

The figures have become central to the debate over whether Operation Vanguard is necessary.

The operation's supporters point instead to concerns raised by residents and businesses, particularly around groups of asylum seekers travelling from Wethersfield into the nearby towns.

For some locals, the issue is not simply crime statistics but how safe they feel.

Chantel Cridland, 27, said she had previously felt intimidated after an apparent asylum seeker allegedly insulted a shop employee and allegedly tried to steal from a store. She said the patrols had made her feel safer and more comfortable going into town alone.

“I feel much safer,” she said. “I feel like I can go out on my own in my own town, whereas before, I felt like I could never go out in my own town.”

Other residents described a very different experience.

Jeff and Mandy Azizi, who visit Braintree regularly, said protests surrounding asylum seekers had caused more disruption in their view than the asylum seekers themselves. Mandy said she had never personally felt unsafe and had rarely seen groups of asylum seekers in the town.

The atmosphere has nevertheless become increasingly charged.

Anti-immigration demonstrations have taken place in Braintree and around Wethersfield in recent months. A weekly Care4Calais drop-in at the Salvation Army centre has also attracted protesters, adding another flashpoint to an already tense local debate.

Amber, 30, who works in a Braintree pet shop, described feeling caught between opposing groups.

“I don’t know which side of the road to walk on,” she said, referring both to anti-immigration protesters and the Salvation Army centre.

For some residents, the anxiety goes further.

Tina Gill

Tina Gill, 52, said she was now reluctant to visit the town centre alone and that she and her family went out in groups because she did not feel safe.

Another resident, Graham Raynor, 60, said he regarded the asylum seekers as “illegal immigrants” and described their presence as “an illegal invasion”. He nevertheless acknowledged that he was not familiar with Operation Vanguard and had not seen the security guards himself.

He supported the patrols because he believed anything that kept residents, particularly women and children, safe was worthwhile.

But others remain unconvinced. One Braintree resident described the scheme as unnecessary, while some people in Chelmsford and Colchester have also questioned whether the patrols are merely performative and could increase racial tensions.

The disagreement has spilled into local politics.

Reform councillor Peter Harris, leader of Essex County Council, has defended Operation Vanguard as a “positive and proportionate response” to concerns about the daily movement of asylum seekers from Wethersfield into the three towns.

He said concerns were particularly strong among women and girls and argued that the number and size of gatherings would increase as Wethersfield expanded.

Braintree District Council, however, has raised concerns about the approach. Its leader, Tom Cunningham, has said Braintree is a safe place and argued that any action should be “careful, proportionate and evidence-led”.

He has also warned that using private contractors without police powers could heighten tensions rather than reassure residents. The council has said it remains opposed to Wethersfield as an asylum accommodation centre while also arguing that responses to the situation should focus on behaviour rather than a particular group.

The crime data adds another layer to the dispute.

Office for National Statistics figures cited in the supplied report showed antisocial behaviour and all crime in Braintree falling by 8.6 per cent and 6.5 per cent respectively in the year ending March 2026 compared with the previous year.

Essex Police has also stressed that its own neighbourhood teams already patrol the three areas, including at key times, and says it remains in regular contact with Essex County Council.

Meanwhile, the Home Office says asylum seekers at Wethersfield undergo induction and receive clear expectations about their behaviour. It also says mandatory security checks link applicants’ biometric data to immigration, security and criminality databases.

The Home Office has described the safety and security of communities around Wethersfield as a priority.

Now the three-month trial faces a very public test.

Will the highly visible patrols reassure residents who say they feel intimidated?

Or will the presence of private guards deepen a controversy that already divides Braintree?

For now, the answer depends heavily on who you ask. Some residents say the guards make them feel safer, others say they have seen little need for them, while police figures indicate that the three town centres remain safe and crime has fallen over the past three years.

The £150,000 experiment is therefore about more than six security guards walking the streets. It has become a test of whether visible private patrols can calm fears around Wethersfield — without becoming another source of division.

Inside the town divided over Reform’s £150,000 migrant watchmen

1 hour ago, bannork said:

Chantel Cridland, 27, said she had previously felt intimidated after an apparent asylum seeker allegedly insulted a shop employee and allegedly tried to steal from a store. She said the patrols had made her feel safer and more comfortable going into town alone.

“I feel much safer,” she said. “I feel like I can go out on my own in my own town, whereas before, I felt like I could never go out in my own town.”

I would feel less intimidated if Chantal stayed home. Failing that, she could wear something with sleeves maybe?

It's a very sad reflection that it's come to this 30 years of the Uniparty failure to enforce UK Immigration Law.