Two men from Colchester have been jailed after being spotted trading a shotgun in a car park.

Jake Mitchell and Billy Parsley were both spotted exchanging the shortened double-barrelled shotgun in Bromley Road on October 12 2019.

Parsley left the scene in a BMW driven by another person, while Mitchell was arrested in his Mercedes soon afterwards – which police later found to have the shotgun and a cut-down bolt action rifle inside.

Police identified the shotgun to be the item handed to him by Parsley, while the rifle was believed to have already been in the car along with a bag of ammunition.

When searching his home in Egret Crescent, police found a revolver.

Parsley was arrested the following day in Hesper Road.

Appearing before Chelmsford Crown Court in November 2020, Mitchell, 27, pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of a firearm, while Parsley, 24, pleaded guilty to transferring a firearm.

Appearing again on Wednesday, March 24, Mitchell was jailed for a total of seven years and two months, while Parsley, of no fixed address, was jailed for five years and three months.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Nelson, of Essex Police, said the force will continue to work tirelessly to crack down on gun crime in the county.

Det Ch Insp Nelson said: “The potential harm these weapons could have caused does not bear thinking about, and there can be no doubt that Mitchell and Parsley were well aware of the potential consequences.

“Fortunately few people will ever be affected by gun crime, but we are working tirelessly to keep it that way, by taking weapons off our streets and putting criminals before the courts.”