Some seafront residents in the flood-threatened Essex village of Jaywick have said they will defy police advice to evacuate - with one saying she feared thieves would target her vacated home.

Three severe flood warnings - which warn of a danger to life - are in place for Friday lunchtime in coastal areas of the county.

But some villagers were hoping the forecast bad weather will not happen.

Rebecca Kenny said she will be staying put "unless things get drastically worse", explaining: "I have animals, I also have a big fear of crime."

Friday's expected stormy weather will not be the first time Jaywick has born the brunt of wintry conditions.

The seaside village was hit by huge floods in 1953 and again in 1972, when huge waves clattered the sea wall and roads turned into rivers.

A similar evacuation also took place in December 2013, and Ms Kenny, a holistic therapist who has lived in the village for six-and-a-half years, said that many of her neighbours were not planning to leave this time around.

She said: "They think similar to me, that it will probably be very similar to how it went in 2013, and that nothing much will come of it.

"Looking online, in the local groups and things like that, most people aren't planning on leaving either."