WYRE Forest MP Mark Garnier has shared his sadness following the "heartbreaking" death of MP Sir David Amess.

Sir David, aged 69, MP for Southend West, died after being stabbed several times at a constituency surgery at a church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, earlier today (Friday, October 15).

A man has been arrested and police have said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

Mr Garnier said he was “stunned” by the tragedy. He told The Shuttle: “It’s just awful. This is one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet.

“It’s heartbreaking actually. He was a thoroughly decent constituency MP.

“The fundamental cornerstone of democracy is that elected representatives are accessible to the people they represent. It’s just unbelievably sad when this happens.

“What we can’t do is get to a situation where there’s a barrier between us and those we represent.

“We have got to work out ways of doing it.”