A woman has died following a fire in a caravan at a Clacton holiday park, it has been confirmed.

At around 9.40am on Monday, May 31, three crews from Essex Fire and Rescue service, along with Essex Police, were called to fire in a static caravan on Highfield Grange Holiday Park.

They arrived to find that a static caravan — measuring 3m x 7m — was ablaze.

Now the fire service has confirmed that that a woman in her 50s was inside the caravan and died at the scene.

A woman in her 20s was also taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and remains there under observation.

Crews had extinguished the fire by 10.30am but remain on the scene.

A spokesman for the fire service said: "Our officers are working with fire investigators to establish the cause of the fire.

"Our thoughts are with those who have been impacted by today’s tragic events."

Councillor Jeff Bray, chairman of Tendring District Council - whose Little Clacton ward borders the holiday park - said: "My thoughts go out to the family and friends of the person affected by this fire.

"It's very very sad news, made worse by the fact lockdown is ending and people are just now getting out to enjoy themselves again.

"Thank you to the fire service for their efforts today. No doubt a thorough investigation will be carried out by the relevant people and hopefully some lessons can be learnt from this tragedy.

"Luckily incidents like this are rare and our holiday parks are usually very safe."

A spokesman for spokesman for Highfield Grange's owner, Parkdean Resorts, said: “There has been an incident at the park and our team are assisting the emergency services.

"It would be inappropriate to comment further.”