A 68-year-old woman has been named in reports as the victim of a dog attack in a coastal village. 

Emergency services, including the air ambulance, were called to Jaywick, near Clacton, at about 4pm on Saturday. 

On arrival officers found a woman had been seriously injured as a result of the attack. 

She was later pronounced dead at the scene, a spokesman for Essex Police confirmed. 

According to media reports, the woman has since been named by her family as Esther Martin. 

The spokesman said that the woman had been attacked by two dogs, which were later destroyed. 

The breeds of the dogs have not been disclosed by police.

A 39-year-old man from Jaywick was subsequently arrested on suspicion of dangerous dog offences.

Chief Superintendent Glen Pavelin, of Essex Police, said: "My thoughts, and those of our officers and staff, are with the family of the woman who died yesterday.

"This incident will be a huge shock to the community and I understand their concerns.

"We’ll have officers in the area throughout today so please come and speak to them if you have any information or are worried. Experienced detectives are leading the investigation to identify exactly what has happened.

"I know there will be speculation about the breed of the dogs involved. We’re waiting for confirmation from experts about this before releasing further details and I’d ask people not to speculate."

Anyone with information can contact Essex Police on 101, quoting incident number 723 of February 3.