Tory MP Sir David Amess has died after being stabbed multiple times while holding a constituency surgery, his office and police have said a man has been arrested.

The 69-year-old MP, who represented Southend West in Essex since 1997, was attacked at Belfairs Methodist church in Leigh-on-Sea.

The incident comes five years after Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered as she arrived to host a surgery in her Batley and Spen constituency in June 2016.

In a brief statement, Essex police said a man had been arrested following an incident in Leigh-on-Sea.

Dame Eleanor Laing, Epping’s MP took to twitter to describe the attack as “Unforgivable.”

She wrote: “All elected representatives must be able to go about their work without the fear of physical or verbal attacks. “What has happened to Sir David Amess in Essex today is unforgivable. Praying for you, my friend.”

In a later Tweet she added: "The news that Sir David Amess has been killed is utterly devastating.

"He was such a gentleman, a principled parliamentarian, a devoted father, a devout Christian and a really nice chap.

"We will all miss him very much. My thoughts are with his family."

Former prime minister David Cameron tweeted: “Very alarming and worrying news reports coming from Leigh-on-Sea. My thoughts and prayers are with Sir David Amess and his family.”

Police said they were not looking for any other suspects, and praised members of the public for their response after the incident at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea.