Police have launched an attempted murder investigation following a garden fire in Essex.

Officers were called at 10.50am on Tuesday to reports of a man and woman suffering serious burns following a disturbance in the garden of a property in Boyce Green, Benfleet.

A 50-year-old man, arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder, died from his injuries in hospital. A postmortem is due to be carried out to establish the cause of his death.

A woman in her 70s remains in a critical condition in hospital.

Senior investigating officer DCI Daniel Stoten, of Kent and Essex’s serious crime directorate, said: “Our investigation has progressed, and after talking to witnesses and making enquiries at the scene, we believe this was a deliberate act.

“Sadly, a man we wanted to talk about this incident has died from his injuries.

“We are confident that we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident but are still trying to establish what happened.”

Police believe there were a number of people in the area, including golfers at a nearby golf club.

If you were in the area between 6am and 11am, and have information, call 101 quoting incident 311 of 13/03, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.