A small plane crashed at London Southend Airport, police said Sunday.

In a statement, Essex Police said it was alerted just before 4 pm local time to the "serious incident" at the relatively small airport, which is around 45 miles (72 kilometres) east of the capital.

Images posted on social media show a plume of fire and black smoke emanating from the crash site. The plane involved is said to be 12 metres (39 feet) long.