DETECTIVES are investigating after a taxi driver was robbed at gunpoint by two passengers in Essex.

The driver had collected the two men from Chelmsford rail station late yesterday evening who directed him towards Latchingdon and Southminster.

He was then threatened by one man with a handgun who robbed him of his takings before the two men ran off.

The suspects were both in their 20s and around 6ft tall. One had a tanned complexion with curly dark hair, was wearing a blue T-shirt and shorts and was carrying a bag.

The other man was wearing a white T-shirt and tracksuit bottoms and had scruffy ginger brown hair and bad teeth.

The taxi driver, who is in his mid 20s and from the Chelmsford area, was uninjured but shaken.

Anyone who saw the incident, which involved a black Ford Mondeo, or recognises the two men described, should call the serious crime team at Chelmsford on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.