MORE than 3,000 gun licences are currently held by residents living in Brentwood.

The figures have been given to the Gazette in the wake of the Whitehaven massacre, which cost 12 innocent people's lives last week, and the armed raid at Mason's restaurant in Ingrave last Monday.

Since March 2007 the Gazette has reported at least ten serious crimes involving firearms in the borough, which will no doubt raise some questions about the checks during and after gun licences are issued by police.

Just last week the Gazette reported the ordeal at Mason's restaurant in Ingrave Road, when criminals made off with thousands of pounds after holding a handgun to the manager's head.

Over the past year, Essex Police have revoked seven licences across Brentwood in an effort to prevent dangerous situations.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: "There would be many reasons why we revoke a licence. It could be that it was not being kept in a secure place or that the owner had acquired a criminal record."

One former gun owner, from Brentwood, who asked to remain anonymous, explained how the hassle of owning a firearm for sport use became a "headache" leading him to handing in his licence and weapon.

He said: "To be honest I decided in the end it just wasn't worth it with all the red tape, the unannounced police visits you have to go through and the expense of having the licence."

The farming community has long been able to use guns legally to control vermin and protect crops and livestock.

A farmer from the Ingatestone area said: "The point is that there are vermin. There are rats, rooks, crows, pigeons and foxes which are all vermin and need shooting.

"As human beings we control our own levels of reproduction through contraception, and if we didn't do that and all had ten kids, for example, we would end up not being able to eat and starving to death because there would not be enough food to go round.

"But animals do not have these controls and so that it why it needs to be taken care of, otherwise the population gets out of control."