Police were contacted shortly after 4am on Monday 5 October to the A128 Brentwood Road at its junction with the B188 in Orsett, where a red Peugeot 308 taxi and a black BMW X5 had collided.

Sadly the taxi driver, a 65-year-old man from Grays, died at the scene. He was the only occupant in the car.

The driver of the BMW left the scene before emergency services arrived. The car was left behind.

The road was closed until around 12.30pm while forensic examination work was carried out.

Police  are continuing our search for the driver of the BMW and anyone else who may have been in that car.

Officers have been progressing our enquiries throughout the day and would like to speak to anyone who saw the collision and saw anyone leaving the scene.

They would  also like to speak to drivers who were in the area at the time and saw a black BMW X5 before the collision, or saw anyone on foot or who may have been picked up by a vehicle in the area of Conways Road at around the time.

Anyone with information or dash cam footage is asked to contact the Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 101 or email [email protected] incident number 99 of 5 October.