A LUCKY Colcestrian has claimed a £250,000 lottery prize, weeks after another six-figure prize went unclaimed. The winner of the quarter of a million pounds - which had been unclaimed for six weeks - has opted to keep their identity a secret. A National
DREAMS came true for three teenage girls who were crowned as this year's Southend Carnival Court. The court, made up of the carnival queen and two princesses, will spend much of the year attending public events and raising money for charities alongside
MORE than 100 former servicemen and cadets marched though Basildon to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Royal Air Force. Members of the Royal Air Force Association, British Legion, and Basildon and Wickford Air Training Corps marched along Rectory
SINCE its formation way back in 1895, West Ham United have forged a reputation as a football club that plays the game in the right way. Under such legends as Ron Greenwood, John Lyall and Harry Redknapp, The Academy became synonymous with slick, passing
CONCORD Rangers are hoping that either Romford or Bowers and Pitsea can do them a favour to keep alive their hopes of landing the Essex Senior League title and promotion to Ryman One North. After the latest round of matches, which saw Enfield 1893 beat
RAIL passengers can now shop suspected fare dodgers by text message. National Express East Anglia has created a hotline where passengers can send details of the train they are travelling on if they suspect a fellow passenger has not bought a ticket.
THE Echo has again received national recognition for the quality of its investigative journalism. The paper won second place in the Scoop of the Year category of the prestigious Newspaper Society Awards, for a series of articles by Jon Austin, Travellers
TWO people have been arrested on suspicion of driving offences after a car ended up on its roof following a crash in Southend early on Friday morning. Only one vehicle, a Peugeot 206, was involved in the incident in Southchurch Boulevard between Hamstel
A CAMPAIGN group has criticised Essex County Council for proposing to pay £27,500 to a European and international officer. Essex County Council says in a job advertisement the successful candidate will report to a European programmes manager and help
HUNDREDS of people came together to light up the night sky around Southend as part of an ambitious art project. About 1,000 volunteers with torches formed a circle with an eight-and-a-half-mile circumference, encompassing land and sea and stretching
MILLERS slipped to their first home defeat under manager Rod Stringer and with tonight's Essex Thames-side Trophy clash with Brimsdown Rovers in mind, Stringer will hope this is merely a blip. Millers took the lead in the seventh minute when Ben Bradbury
TILBURY were brushed aside by Ryman One North title-chasing Dartford in front of 1,338 on Saturday and they face a nerve-wracking end of > season finale and a desperate battle to avoid relegation. Results elsewhere were mixed, with favourable results
SCOTT Parker has admitted that Bolton "beat up" his West Ham side before securing a vital 1-0 win at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday. Kevin Davies, a thorn in the Irons' defensive sides all afternoon, scored a 46th minute goal to keep the Trotters in
THE first official trials have taken place at the new Great Leighs Racecourse, with 20 horses working over distances from five to ten furlongs. The trials took place on Sunday on the Polytrack course, an 8-furlong, left-handed oval, built to exceed the
FISHER'S hopes of reaching the Blue Square South play-offs continue but they ended any outside chance Fleet might have had of achieving a top five finish themselves thanks to two second half goals from Luke Hickie and Andrew McCollin. In a game of poor
Monday April 21st are at: ---- and 1222 Tuesday April 22nd are at: 0033 and 1249 Wednesday April 23rd are at: 0103 and 1314 Thursday April 24th are at: 0134 and 1342 Friday April 25th are at: 0207 and
WEST Ham legends Steve Potts, Kevin Keen and Paul Brush all completed the Flora London Marathon on Sunday. Potts, who has raised nearly £4,500 for the Children with Leukaemia charity, was the first of the Irons trio to cross the finish line in The
A THIEF responsible for a spate of car crime was sentenced and behind bars just a day after his arrest. Paul Golding, 34, was arrested at his home on Little Wakering Road, Southend, last Tuesday, after officers found a hoard of stolen goods taken from
ROCKS suffered heartbreak when their Kent hosts and relegation rivals snatched a 90th minute equaliser to deny East Thurrock a deserved victory. The Essex side had doinated this Ryman Premier battle but failed to convert their advantage into anything
ESSEX Police have been highlighted in a new report by the Plain English Campaign for speaking "ploddledygook". The county's force has been picked out by the Plain English Campaign for two of the worst examples of garbled language. Favourite examples
A DEVASTATED daughter claims she will sue Southend Hospital after her father died while being treated for the MRSA superbug. Sharon Holt, 50, says dad Frederick Smith was infected with the deadly bacteria after a hip replacement operation. The mother-of-four
WHAT does home mean to you? For most of us, it's a place to share with family and a sanctuary to relax at the end of the day. For Charlotte Walsh and her children, home means so much more. It's where she cares for her 15-month-old daughter, Ruby, who
Many people in the Basildon district will have noticed how the black rubbish sacks provided by the council have become smaller, and now no longer fit across the top of a standard size dustbin. No doubt this saves the council money, albeit at an inconvenience
The May 1 local council elections are rapidly approaching and I take the opportunity to remind readers that April 16 is the deadline to get their names on the electoral register, if they have not already done so. If you are not on the register, you won't
I applaud MP David Amess's stand on abortion (Mar 31), but even if Parliament lowers the upper limit for legal abortion to 22 weeks it will just encourage people to have abortions earlier. Amendments will still be accepted allowing late abortion under
I could not believe the article on Asbos being presented to smokers for dropping cigarette ends in the street. Considering a cigarette end is approximately an inch long and doesn't require a high-pressure hose to remove it, doesn't stick to carpets or
The recent investigative reports by the Echo news team deserve to be praised and highlighted. In particular, its determination to use the Freedom of Information Act to uncover some worrying data about the way our elected representatives spend our money
THE end of the season can't come quickly enough for Iain O'Connell's understrength side. Safe from relegation fears for some time now, this latest defeat at the hands of play-off chasing Ware was their sixth on the trot. They gave a decent account of
HALIFAX showed the spirit that may well see them survive in the Blue Square Premier as they battled back three times to earn what could be a precious point in their survival battle. The Shayman came to compete in front of a crowd of 1,204 swelled by
LAKESIDE suffered their second Elite League defeat in two nights when they went down 53-40 at Swindon on Thursday night as the Robins exacted revenge for their defeat last Friday at the Arena-Essex Raceway. Adam Shields held the visitors together with
POLICE on horses will become a regular sight in Pitsea for a full month. The Essex Police horse section has only been doing one-off day-long patrols around the county since it came back into operation in December last year. However, in a first for the
PLANS for a £3.5million education centre will be officially unveiled this week. Primary school children in Wickford, Runwell, Crays Hill and pupils at the Castledon special school, will all be able to use the Collaborative Learning Centre. Based at
THE leader of Castle Point Council is "disappointed" after less than 1 per cent of residents responded to the authority's annual survey. Despite the poor response rate - 149 replies out of more than 36,000 homes - the council has claimed the results
HAYDEN Mullins has defended West Ham's safety-first tactics at Bolton, despite the Irons failure to score against the relegation-threatened Trotters. Mullins was one of five men strung across the midfield by manager Alan Curbishley in a bid to stifle
A MOTHER has spoken of her terror after arsonists set fire to her home. Marie Edmonds, 30, of Beaver Tower, Eastwood, was with her 14-month-old baby Molly, when arsonists stuffed paper through her letter box and set fire to it. Emergency services were
FOR a lot of mums the thought of leaving the house without being armed with a trusted pack of baby wipes would bring them out in a cold sweat. If Eileen Peck had her way however, this wouldn't be a problem. Eileen, the chairman of the South East Essex
WEST Ham manager Alan Curbishley has backed teenage midfielder Jack Collison to "get over" the disappointment of enduring a difficult full debut in Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Bolton Wanderers. The Wales Under-21 international was thrown into the Hammers
POPULAR skipper Jamie Dormer has been voted the club's player of the year by Billericay Town fans. Long-serving Dormer, who has made 219 full appearances for the club but has been out for the past seven matches due to injury, played a leading part in
TWO years ago Lorri Gibson took up running to get in shape. The mum of two hasn't stopped since. What started out as a few miles jogging with a friend, has turned into an all consuming hobby. Since joining Benfleet Running Club in the summer of 2006
SOUTHEND United moved closer to claiming their place in the play-offs after picking up a point from what proved to be a game o contrasting halves on Saturday. The vast majority of a larger than expected crowd of more than 9,000 at Roots Hall would have
PLANS for a £3.5 million education centre will be officially unveiled next week. Primary school children in Wickford, Runwell, Crays Hill and pupils at the Castledon special school will all be able to use the Collaborative Learning Centre. Based at
ONLY 28.4 overs were possible at on the second day of play at Fenners yesterday where Cambridge UCCE reached 76-2 wicket in reply to the Essex total of 406-4 declared. Both wickets fell to David Masters who turned who was rewarded for an impressive spell
THORPE Hall's Richard McEvoy produced a superb four under par final round of 67 to guarantee a good-sized cheque for his efforts in the Colombian Open in Bogota. His closing 18 holes, among the best of the day, looked set to see him finish in the top
RESIDENTS are calling for a roundabout at a busy junction after a man was killed there. Pedestrian Harold Mickleson, 86, of Cheltenham Drive, Leigh, died after being involved in a collision with a van while crossing Station Road, Leigh, last month.
Premier Division TWO goals by McKean and another by Brandon kept Ford Basildon at the top of the league but goal difference may decide the championship and this 3-2 win over Dunmow did not help their cause. A pair by Thomas was just enough to give Benfleet
WITH three of their main rivals losing, Canvey Island stepped-up their bid for the play-offs with a narrow home success over relegation-threatened Essex rivals Wivenhoe. Central defender Colin Wall was the hero for Gulls, playing in front of a 317 crowd
NORTHAMPTON Town boss Stuart Gray felt his team were denied a first half spot-kick at Roots Hall on Saturday, but was still happy to return home with a point. "I thought it was definitely a penalty and I don't know why it wasn't given," said Gray on
FORMER Southend swimmer Mark Foster admitted to being delighted with his silver medal in the World Short-Course Championships in Manchester. Only a world record by Croatia's Duje Draganja stopped Foster, at the age of 37, adding to his tally of four
LEE Barnard may have rescued a point for Southend United on Saturday but he was still not happy. The striker pounced to score his eighth goal in 10 starts for the Shrimpers to secure a 1-1 draw against Northampton Town at Roots Hall But the Billericay
A HOUSING association is set to plough £50,000 into creating three new children's playgrounds on a Vange estate...and youngsters will have their say about what facilities they want to see installed. South Anglia Housing is asking local children and parents
ALAN Curbishley admitted West Ham "could not cope" with Bolton Wanderers after watching his side go down to a 1-0 defeat at the Reebok Stadium. Despite facing a team who had not won in 10 matches - and who had tasted victory just six times in 33 league
TRAINS were cancelled on the Tilbury loop after a man was killed on the tracks this morning. The man, who was in his 20s, walked onto the track near Stanford-le-Hope with his back to the oncoming c2c train. The driver sounded his horn but was unable
A PLANT nursery is closing in Rawreth. Plans have been submitted to Rochford District Council for a change of use of the large building at Hambro Nurseries from a horticultural storage building to use it as storage or as a distribution centre. A member
A WOMAN is preparing to take the plunge for Fair Havens Hospice, which supported her mum before she died of bowel cancer. Recruitment consultant Sally Hawkins, 26, will do a tandem skydive with her sister-in-law, Michelle Thwaites, to raise money for
RESIDENTS could be fined for parking in their own road while temporary restrictions are introduced to allow access for school buses. Car parking in Spencer Gardens, Rochford, will be banned for an hour each day for two weeks so school buses can wait
A TALENTED young girl has won a place at a coveted arts school. Alex Athene, 12, of Hornbeam Chase, South Ockendon, auditioned for the Abbs Cross School and Arts College in December last year, with 200 others hoping to gain one of only 17 places. Alex
A DAY of special events was organised to mark the launch of new dog-walking routes across Basildon. The district council has established the routes to encourage people to take better care of their pets and the environment. The council teamed up with
NEW wildlife conservation areas are being created in Basildon... alongside some of the town's busiest roads. Adders, lizards, kestrels, slowworms, voles, rare butterflies and wildlife are finding homes next to routes used by thousands of vehicles every
A FORMER peacekeeper for the United Nations has spoken of his pride after finally receiving a medal recognising his hard work. Tony Burnell, 66, who lived on Canvey, owned the Fancy Hats shop in Pier Hill, Southend, for more than 25 years, before retiring
TWO people have been arrested on suspicion of driving offences after car ended up on its roof following in a crash in Southend early on Friday morning. Only one vehicle, a Peugeot 206, was involved in the incident in Southchurch Boulevard between Hamstel
A FAMOUS radio talk show is set to be hosted in Billericay. The town council has arranged for the BBC to broadcast Radio 4 programme Any Questions, from inside the Emmanuel Church, in Laindon Road. The programme, which is the UK's longest running political
A CAMPAIGN group has criticised Essex County Council for proposing to pay £27,500 to a "European and international officer". Essex County Council says in a job advertisement that the successful candidate will report to "European programmes manager" and
ESSEX Police have been highlighted in a new report by the Plain English Campaign for speaking "ploddledygook". The county's force has been picked out by the Plain English Campaign for two of the worst examples of garbled language. Favourite examples
