A small plane crashes at the London Southend Airport

Police confirmed on Sunday that a tiny jet crashed at London Southend Airport.

In a statement, Essex Police said it was alerted just before 4 p.m. local time to the “serious incident” at the relatively small airport, which is around 45 miles east of the capital.

"We remain on the scene of a serious incident at Southend Airport," the local Essex Police said, adding that they were alerted just before 4 p.m. to reports of a collision involving a 39-foot plane.

It was unclear how many people were on the plane.

Unverified pictures from British newspaper websites showed a fireball rising into the air above Southend Airport, which is around 35 miles east of London.

“We are working with all emergency services at the scene now and that work will be ongoing for several hours,” Essex Police said.

David Burton-Sampson, the local member of parliament, told people to remain away and allow the emergency services do their jobs.

“My thoughts are with everyone involved,” he said.

The East of England Ambulance Service stated they had despatched four ambulances and additional vehicles to help.

The airport's website showed five international flights had been cancelled following the accident.