POLICE have confirmed the ages of two children killed in a collision with a car in Pitsea on Saturday.

The children are a 16 year-old boy and a nine year-old girl.

Officers have been carrying out enquiries since a collision involving a car and the two children in Ashlyns at around 6.25pm on Saturday.

The car failed to stop at the scene and a man and a woman – both in their 20s – were arrested a short time later on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of a collision.

They remain in custody.

Detective Sergeant Sam Nason, who's leading the investigation, said: "Specialist officers are supporting the loved ones of the two children who sadly died yesterday.

"My team is working tirelessly to give them the answers they need about what happened.

"At this stage we are not providing any more information about the boy and girl who have died and I would ask that their privacy, and that of their loved ones, is respected.

"I know there is a lot of interest in what happened last night but I would also urge people not to speculate.

"If you have information about the collision please contact my team."

DS Nason added: "I also want to thank my emergency service colleagues and members of the public who tried valiantly to save the children's lives last night."

"If you saw anything, have any CCTV, dash cam or doorbell footage, or have any information please get in contact with us.

"Please quote incident 931 of 1 February.

"You can let us know by submitting a report on our website where you can use our online Live Chat service available Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) between 10am-9pm.

"Visit https://www.essex.police.uk/digital101to find out more about our website reporting services. Alternatively, you can call us on 101.

"If you would like to make an anonymous report, you can contact independent charity Crimestoppers on X, formerly Twitter, at @CrimestoppersUK, by visiting their website or by calling 0800 555 111."