1900 hrs

Essex Police closed Harberts Road in the Northbrooks area of Harlow between Third Avenue and close to the Golden Swift pub.

YH has asked Essex Police if this is connected by have yet to receive a reply.

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ESSEX Police are investigating after a teenager was assaulted in Harlow in what we are treating as a hate crime.

It was reported the 17 year-old boy was assaulted with a knife at around 8.30pm on Wednesday 9 September in Northbrooks and sustained a cut to his arm.

He went to hospital for treatment but has since been discharged.

We are treating the incident as a hate crime as the victim reported he had been assaulted because he is a muslim.

The assault followed a confrontation between the victim and a group of five to seven men and boys thought to be in their late teens to early 20s who all had their faces covered and were wearing hooded tops.

The person who assaulted the victim is described as being white, slim, around 5ft 7ins tall, in his late teens and with curly brown hair.

One of the other members of the group has been described as white, slim, in his late teens to 20s, around 6ft tall and wearing a big puffed jacket.

Chief Inspector Natalia Ross, District Commander for Harlow, said: “We are treating this incident very seriously and working to establish the circumstances which led up to it.

“There will be additional patrols in the area so to provide extra reassurance to the local community.

“We appreciate incidents like this cause concern and we have a team of officers working hard to identify those responsible.

“There were a number of vehicles in the area at the time and I need anyone who has any dash cam footage of the incident or the moments leading up to it to come forward.”

If you saw anything, have any CCTV or dash cam footage, or have any other information please call us on 101 quoting the crime reference number 42/161312/19 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.