POLICE will use new powers to try and prevent the tragic deaths of women from domestic violence.

Essex Police will roll out the use of Domestic Violence Protection Notices (DVPNs) and Domestic Violence Prevention Orders (DVPOs) by the summer.

The force has faced criticism for the way it has handled cases in the past including the murder of Maria Stubbings of Pitfield, Chelmsford, at the hands of her partner Marc Chivers in 2008.

The orders give police powers to evict those carrying out the abuse and ban them from coming within a certain distance of the victim.

The scheme has been piloted in three areas across the country and is now being rolled out across England and Wales.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission found the force failed to properly recognise the risks when Ms Stubbings, 50, was assaulted by Chivers, in July 2008.

Five months later Chivers, who had spent 15 years in a German prison for killing another girlfriend, murdered the mother of two by strangling her.