ALASTAIR Cook may not play very much for Essex again this season, but England's Ashes opener signed off from county duty in spectacular style with a brilliant Twenty20 Cup hundred against shell-shocked Surrey at The Oval. Cook and Mark Pettini added
THREE funny men are coming to Laindon for a new comedy night. Tim Clark, Phil Butler and Colin Cole hope to bring the house down at the Comedy Club event at the Four Seasons, in Victoria Road, on July 1. The headline act is Colin, a familiar face to
A PLAYWRIGHT and her play picked up five top awards at Thurrock Drama Festival. Carole Hayes, 46, received gongs for her one-act comedy, Just the Ticket. It won Best Original Play out of 11 entries, and the Winner’s Cup. It also received awards for
THALIAN Theatre Group’s latest production kicks off today with an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel Hard Times. Set in fictional Coketown, the story hinges on the gulf between the newly-rich of the cotton-spinning metropolis and the squalid
A POIGNANT ceremony to mark the run-up to Armed Forces Day took place at Southend Hospital yesterday. The hospital joined forces with the Royal British Legion to unveil three specially-planted red, white and blue commemorative flower beds,
A MOUNTAIN of cash needed to replace a Southend school’s two minibuses looks set to get £2,500 taller, thanks to a fete which offered this climbing wall as an attraction Southend High School for Boys’ annual fete also offered five-a-side football, a
A MAN who operated an unlicensed taxi-cab in Southend has been fined £1,000. Edward Bridgland, 37, of Brunswick Road, South-end, said he was so broke that he was forced to drive around the town, picking up customers to make ends meet. He pleaded guilty
CARD shop Birthdays closed on Canvey yesterday. Seven staff lost their jobs after the store in Furtherwick Road was forced to shut after the company went into administration last month. The shop, part of a national chain, is the latest on Canvey to
CONTROVERSIAL plans for a coin-operated launderette in an empty shop in the heart of Hadleigh have been condemned as a waste of time. Many traders are not happy with plans for London Road with many still reeling about the prospect of KFC coming to town
A £40million Government-funded project will transform two schools in Castle Point. Glenwood special needs school is to move from Rushbottom Lane, Benfleet, to join Deanes School in brand new premises on the latter’s ample site in Daws Heath Road, Thundersley
The Benfleet based Tokon Do Karate Union headed towards Cheshunt for the Shikon Karate Open International Kata and Kumite Competition. They took two first places and two seconds in an event which chief instructor Len Norman insisted was of a very high
ZIMBABWEANS living in Southend will not return home to help rebuild their country, despite calls for them to do so, it has been claimed. James Duddridge, MP for Rochford and Southend East, has backed Zimbabwean prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s request
BASILDON Council is paying rent for at least 15 families to live at Dale Farm, even though it wants to kick them out, the Echo has learned. A number of families facing eviction from the Crays Hill illegal camp are claiming housing benefit because they
SOUTHEND is getting ready to celebrate the UK’s first Armed Forces Day, with a big military parade along the High Street. At 11am, the Band of the Adjutant-General Corps will lead the march from Tylers Avenue to Royal Square, at the top of Pier Hill.
A YOUNG sub-aqua enthusiast was rushed to hospital after suffering the bends, a life-threatening condition, during a training dive. Dominic Harvey, 12, from Leigh, got into trouble during a dive in the sea off Portland, near Weymouth, Dorset. Dominic
WHEN 16-year-old Joe Bullock is bound over as an apprentice at Watermen’s Hall next week, he will be the latest in a family line stretching back nearly 500 years. It will be the start of a five-year apprenticeship, during which the youngster, from Canvey
A MAN who admitted touring Pakistan to sign up recruits for an extremist Islamic group has returned to spread a more peaceful message. Maajid Nawaz, 32, a former pupil at Westcliff High School for Boys, had to wear a bulletproof vest during his trip
WESTCLIFF Hardcourts ladies will be defending their Essex Senior Cup crown on Sunday at the county summer finals. Alice Dickens, Faye Watts, Jackie Moodie and Fiona Stone defeated Cranston Park 2-1 to win the silverware in 2008. And this year the club
A TOUCH of cafe culture is coming to a Basildon retail park. Planning chiefs have approved plans for a Costa Coffee shop at the Pipps Hill Retail Park, Miles Gray Road. The coffee chain will open next to the Blockbuster video store. The park’s management
A MUM has spoken of her horror following a freak accident which led to sharp glass showering her family at a Chinese restaurant. Sarah Garner, 36, of Durham Road, Laindon, had just arrived for a meal at Aroma restaurant in Festival Leisure
It’s fantastic Rezidor Hotels group is restoring and reopening Southend’s Palace Hotel and will create at least 60 new jobs (June 22). But why only give it only three stars? More importantly, why on earth change the name to the dreary Park Inn
You are correct in stating in your comment column that we should show respect and support for our soldiers on Armed Forces Day on Saturday. There are many, including myself, who consider the Iraq War to have been an illegal and unjustifiable
How very disappointing David Blackwell and his fellow Canvey Independent Party councillors failed to congratulate residents upon an excellent community initiative at Bumblebee Park in the article Giant Bee Sculpture Too Scary for Park (June 22
Why the fuss about dogs on the beach? There won’t be anyone to control or police the rule anyway, so carry on as normal. At regular intervals along the seafront footpath from Shoebury to Leigh there are signs that state no cycling. When was the
During a recession food outlets are the last to be affected. I have sympathy with the residents of Hadleigh who are against KFC Takeaway. Years ago the London Road had some very good shops and restaurants. Now all we have are foreign restaurants
This Labour Government intends to charge people with a landline phone a certain amount every month to pay for broadband, whatever that is. If you do not want it, do you still pay? A Smith Kiln Road Thundersley
Ruth Barnett describes herself as a human rights promoter, typical of these politically correct times (Letters, June 16). Writing from her London home, a safe 30 miles away, she seeks to tell the people of Basildon and their councillors they
I could not disagree more strongly with GE Dent about the proposed cycle path from Chalkwell to Leigh. It will not be for a small number” of cyclists as suggested, but for an increasing number of local residents, children and visitors who will
The Government’s decision to raise the tax on bingo in the last budget is a real threat to the industry and many clubs are already struggling. Conservatives have argued against taxing bingo even more than other forms of gambling. Bingo Halls,
DJ Adsett encourages MPs to have other jobs (June 17). I disagree. Being an MP is a huge privilege. Constituents should command all of an MP’s time when working. If MPs cannot devote themselves to serving their constituents they should
When all the pious outrage over our cheating MPs has died down this nation needs to take a look at itself. How many people finding a till receipt charging 50p for a £50 item would return to correct the mistake? When bank “holes in the
I was surprised to read the article, Stormy Reception for School’s Wind Turbine Dream, about the improvements which will take place at Westborough Primary in Westcliff (June 17). When we undertook consultations locally, only one person objected
Basildon Hospital health chiefs are seeking ways to reduce the number of terminally- ill people dying in hospital by creating more hospices and improving home and residential care (June 22). However, I wonder how many of those lying in hospital
I think an accident is waiting to happen around Downhall Road/London Road, Rayleigh, where gasworks are taking place. A three-way traffic control has been introduced so the works in Downhall Road only have a traffic signal at the Hambro Hill
TODAY is crunch time as union leaders will hear whether fire chiefs have shelved controversial proposals for a service shake-up. The Fire Brigades Union gave bosses at Essex County Fire and Rescue Service until today to abandon plans to make changes
STEPHANIE Cornish’s third round hoodoo in the AEGON International Junior Champ-ionships struck again this week. The Billericay-based player had never progressed beyond the third round of the event which is held at Roehampton, south west London. And
WHEN Southend becomes the epicentre of the cycling world this evening a local man will be especially pleased. Pro tour series commentator Dan Jarvis, 35, was brought up in Eastwood, went to school in Southend and now lives in Stanford. Dan has manned
Crowstone & St Saviour’s really did save Southend & District LTA for round two of the mini tennis and girl’s Grands Prix. Courtesy of the club committee, Crowstone Tennis Club hosted the round with only 14 days’ notice. The Mini-Greens, for players
A TEENAGE girl has blasted health chiefs for denying her a cancer immunisation jab – because she is nine days too old. Simone Green, 18, has been refused the injection because she was born on August 22, 1990. Only those born after September
BENFLEET golfer Daniel Kean, 10, who is a member at both Rochford Hundred and Langdon Hills, has secured a place at this year's Callaway Junior World Golf Championships to be held in San Diego, in the United States of America, between July 14 and 16.
I CAN safely say this has been my best ever week of cricket. From a team point of view, we beat Kent in the championship and then Middlesex in the Twenty20 And from a personal viewpoint, the runs have finally flowed – and show no sign of stopping!
For the first time in the history of the Cold Norton club a cross-country competition was held in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, lady captain Cecilia Jackaman’s chosen charity. Sixty-eight golfers supported this event playing in teams of four
MORE than 80 members of the Thorpe Hall Ladies section enjoyed beautiful sunny conditions for the start of the highlight of their golfing year. Although the skies clouded over, the temperature remained pleasant and it was not as windy as it hasd been
Lakeside Hammers suffered their first Elite League home defeat of the season as they lost 48-42 at home to Wolverhampton last night. The visitors picked up three points to return to the top of the table, but Lakeside, who visit Ipswich tonight, stay
THE two Southend Highs will be hoping to become the pride of England over the weekend when they compete in the World Schools’ Athletic Championships in Estonia. Following their superb performances in last year’s English Schools Track and Field Cup the
A MODEL is jetting out to America to compete in a beauty contest. Hayley Mac, 24, from Grays, is preparing for the Miss Galaxy International final, being held in Florida. In March, she won the UK title and will now go forward to compete against girls
A THIEF who stole two motocross bikes from a warehouse and was chased by a police helicopter and patrol cars, has been jailed for a year. Brendon Ricketts, 23, used an angle grinder to break through shutters of a warehouse on Pipps Hill industrial estate
FORMER Southend Tory councillor Melvyn Day has been selected as the party’s candidate to fight the Independent heartland of Westborough Ward at the next local elections in May. Mr Day was successful as the first Conservative in years to win in St Luke
MORE than a dozen workers could be axed as part of a shake-up at a Southend housing association just months after it won a £58million cash injection. South Essex Homes, which runs 7,000 council homes on behalf of Southend Council, is considering
HUNDREDS of thousands of motorists in Essex could have speeding convictions quashed because of a serious blunder by police. A member of staff hired by Essex Police to issue fines and prosecution letters to motorists across the county may have been doing
A CHARITY for people with dementia will have to respray its minibus after it was attacked by vandals. The bus, owned by the Peaceful Place charity, based in Dalys Road, Rochford, was daubed with black paint. It is used to pick up people
ANGRY residents have criticised a developer, which wants to build flats in Billericay, for not addressing their concerns. M&D Building Services proposes demolishing Heywood Lodge care home, in Western Road, and building a block of 12 flats. A meeting
A TEN-YEAR-OLD Brownie is over the moon after winning a charity pot-painting competition. Lucy Gibbs, of 4th Hockley Brownies, has been named as the Essex winner of Marie Curie Cancer Care’s Paint Your Mini Pot competition. She was chosen
A MAN from Rayleigh has just walked 80 miles to Norwich to raise funds for a school in a Kenya. Joe Hayden, 69, of Trinity Road, a former lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford, spent five days on his trek. He was raising the money for
BUDDING thespians aged eight to 21 are being invited to try out for a part in a musical. Rare Productions is putting on Little Shop of Horrors at Basildon’s Towngate Theatre in October and is looking for actors, singers and dancers of all levels of
HOSPICE chiefs are urging people to get fit for fun with the annual St Luke’s 5km run around Gloucester Park in Basildon. The annual event takes place on September 13. Hundreds of participants are expected to run, stroll or jog around the course
