Connor Essam has rejected a new deal at Dover Athletic and signed for Leyton Orient.

The League 2 club have paid Whites an undisclosed fee for the defender, who has put pen to paper on a two-year deal at Brisbane Road.

Essam, who started his career at Gillingham, renews acquaintances with Orient boss Ian Hendon and assistant Andy Hessenthaler - who both worked with him at Gills.

Hendon said: "We are delighted to bring Connor in and he is someone both I and Andy Hessenthaler have worked with in the past.

"We gave him his debut at Gillingham back when me and Andy where there and he was literally a boy. He was a big lad but he was very skinny but now he has physically developed and he has already shown us what he is capable of.

"He handled playing in the Conference last year for a season very well and we had no problems in taking Connor."

During his time as Gills player, Essam had loan spells at Dover and Dartford, who he rejoined on loan after making a permanent move to Crawley in 2013.

The 23-year-old was a deadline day signing last September for Dover boss Chris Kinnear, who handed Essam the captain's armband as Whites finished eighth in the Vanarama Conference.