THESE pictures show police tackling a naked man running through Chelmsford's city centre.
When a member of the public called 999 to report a streaker walking down Broomfield Road, Chelmsford, five police cars were dispatched to the scene.
These photographs, taken by a member of the public, show the man, with a police officer hot on his heels, moments before he was tackled outside the Trinity Methodist Church, opposite the County Hotel in Rainsford Road, on Thursday.
An elderly member of the church told the Chronicle: "What a day to pick to run naked, it is so cold out there.
"He was lying on the street screaming 'The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit'."
Onlookers from the nearby building site, hotel, church and hairdresser's watched as police wrapped the man in a blanket before he was wheeled into an ambulance to be checked over.
Another gentleman said: "Today the Women's Fellowship group were in and they only meet on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month.
"The group had to be kept back a bit whilst the police dealt with the man and put him in the ambulance."
Reverend Viv Gasteen was going through the church's CCTV footage with a police officer.
She said: "A man was taken ill outside the church, he collapsed and is poorly and has now gone to hospital for treatment.
"We were just available if somebody wanted help but the police had it all under control."
A spokesman from Essex Police added: "Police were called shortly before 3pm on Thursday, December 13, following reports that a naked man was walking along Broomfield Road.
"Officers arrived and spotted the man, who was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and taken to the nearby Linden Centre."
