A councillor has called for a summit for mental health, saying that conditions in school pupils "often go undiagnosed."

Speaking during a Thurrock Cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening, Councillor James Halden, who is responsible for health and education, said that mental health is "without a doubt one of the biggest issues in our borough."

He called on the Cabinet to hold a "Mental Health Summit" to address emotional and mental health issues which contribute to the wider health and wellbeing issues among young people.

He identified that many school pupils with mental health conditions often do not have them diagnosed as they are not considered to have learning difficulties.

Councillor Halden said during the meeting: "It's not just that mental health that you can measure in classroom terms. 

"Because of bad exam results, for example, it's very easy to test for Autism or ADHD.

"But we are not getting to some of the more emotional mental health issues, such as eating disorders and depression, as they don't always affect their exam results and they often go undiagnosed.

"This is why we should hold a Mental Health Summit to hopefully realign the system to how it needs to be."

The motion was unanimously passed by the Cabinet.

After the meeting, Councillor Halden said the summit should take place "in the next few weeks."