GRAYS Athletic's gloom at the wrong end of the Blue Square Premier shows no signs of ending. Tonight they crashed to a 4-0 defeat at Hayes and Yeading. In the Ryman Premier, Canvey Island gave their play-off hopes a mighty boost when they won 3-1 at
A GLOBAL sports company based in Southend is toasting success after it defied the recession and doubled its earnings in the past year. Hi-Tec, based in Aviation Way, saw global sales increase by more than ten per cent, to achieve a $250million turnover
A DROP in the number of people diagnosed with swine flu has prompted the Government to close the National Pandemic Flu Service. The role of diagnosing and issuing prescriptions will be returned to GPs and NHS Direct. The £2.5million national service
A MAN has been ordered to forfeit more than £250,000 discovered in a police raid. Kevin Burrage, of Ravendale Way, Shoebury, lost the money because police believe it came from an alcohol wholesale warehouse company which had not been paying
A CHILDREN’S hospice is celebrating a £2,000 cash boost from a Rayleigh school. Teachers and pupils from the Sweyne Park school took part in the annual Santas on the Run race in aid of Little Havens Children’s Hospice. The school, which
THE HEAD coach of the British diving team has been wowed after a look around Southend’s soon-to-be-built Olympic-standard diving pool. Last month, the British Olympic diving team expressed an interest in using the £13.5million pool at Southend
A PUB will be demolished and turned into 17 affordable homes after a planning application was approved. Castle Point Council’s development control committee has given the go ahead to the redevelopment plans for the Lighthouse pub, London Road, Benfleet
Rochford District Council launched the Friends of Sweyne Park project in 2009 to ensure people had more say over the way the park was run and managed. Now the Council are looking for more people to get involved. Open public meetings were arranged
THE closure of the Deeping entrance to Southchurch Road from the Victoria Circus roundabout has been delayed by a week. The Deeping was due to close permanently from Monday, February 15 but will now close on the evening of Sunday, February 21.
SOUTHEND Hospital has been given a huge vote of confidence after a report praised its work in treating patients with serious and life-threatening conditions needing constant care. A report from a watchdog said patients being treated in intensive
A GOVERNMENT minister has thrown her support behind plans to transform Canvey town centre following a visit to the island. Barbara Follett, minister for the East of England, visited the island’s regeneration shop, in the Knightswick Centre, where the
YOUNGSTERS at a school held a colourful show to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake disaster. Pupils at Fairhouse Infant and Junior schools, in Long Riding, Basildon, dressed up in red and blue, the colours of the Haiti flag, to raise money
A BENEFIT cheat who claimed £7,500 had her jail sentence suspended at Basildon Crown Court. Michelle Samuels, 31, of Yardley, Basildon, admitted producing false documents, failing to declare her partner was living with her and failing to declare earnings
POLICE are reminding people to lock up their outbuildings after burglars crept into a summerhouse in Southend. A key had been left in the lock of a building in Victoria Avenue so the crooks could easily let themselves in. Once inside they stole a LG
Vandals smashed up a car in a Westcliff street causing £300 damage. They broke the back window of a VW Golf which was parked at the junction of Westborough Road and Ramuz Drive. It is believed to have happened between 12.30am and 9.45am on Sunday February
A WAR of words has erupted over future health care services in Billericay. Town councillors argued over the results of a health survey, conducted by NHS South West Essex in September. A confidential report, containing the results, was leaked to the
Yobs superglued the doorlocks of a Westcliff tyre fitting shop. They struck at W J Wood & Son, in London Road, causing £400 of damage to the building. It is believed to have happened between 5.30pm and 7.30am on Friday February 5
MP John Baron failed to provide Parliament with annual mortgage statements for more than two years, it was revealed in letters leaked to the Echo. Shamed Tory Mr Baron has been forced to pay back £8,821 in interest from a June 2004 re-mortgage
STEVE Tilson saw his side lose 2-0 at Colchester United last night and then insisted the Shrimpers need 19 more points to avoid relegation. A goal in each half from the U’s Anthony Wordsworth condemned Southend United to another defeat at the Weston
SOUTHEND Rugby Club recorded a third win in four game to see off Henley 33-10 on Saturday, but Ben Green was still not completely satisfied. The Seasiders ran home five tries at Warners Bridge to maintain their recent run of good results. But their
Westcliff got back on the winning trail at Rochford Hundred but the hosts made things extremely difficult at times in a keenly-contested local derby. Promotion-pushing Westcliff eventually triumphed 19-8. But they were forced to dig
RAYLEIGH'S Sweyne Park entered the year eight Emerging Schools’ Rugby Shield tournament at Southend Rugby Club and came out triumphant. The team have been training hard and have played a number of games throughout the year. They performed superbly
ESSEX Pirates climbed off the bottom of the BBL standings with a 79-75 win at Plymouth Raiders on Sunday. Taner Adu led the scoring with 25 points. And head coach Tim Lewis was thrilled to see his side finally return to winning ways. “It’s a result
SWIM girls from Southend High made a splash when they won through to the national finals of the annual Team Championships for Secondary Schools in Coventry for the first time in 12 years. It was the 52nd annual hosting of the event and the quartet from
Some of the letters about the airport expansion deserve some sort of response (Letters, Feb 2). S Askam claims Southend Council’s planning committee is made up of 14 Conservatives and three others which could not possibly reflect the views of
I would just like to say a big thank-you to Peter Andre for coming to Tesco Pitsea to sign his new CD. After waiting three hours with no air conditioning in a very disorganised line, it was well worth it to meet him, to be honest. Peter was one
Politics, politics, politics! Just what is the matter with the Letters lot lately? Nothing but angry argument about politics. Boring. In fact, it’s nearly getting as bad as my local. Might I be permitted to calm things down a bit and propose
Attacks on Independent councillors, local businesses and the residents’ association in Westborough are an absolute disgrace (Letters, Feb 1). The Conservative party has for months turned a blind eye to the bullying and intimidation being carried
Had I been an account holder with Barclays prior to Barclays absorbing the Woolwich, Nicola Smith (Letters, Feb 2) would have been right about me needing to use the branch at Tarpots. However, since I was with the Woolwich before the take over
I am so pleased to read Castle Point Council’s chief executive David Marchant is concerned with health and safety in relation to the paddling pool on Canvey seafront. As a disabled person I have often walked along the seafront from Concord Beach
CANVEY firefighters have tackled two vehicle blazes on the island in the space of seven minutes. The first saw a crew called to Beveland Road at 10pm on Monday night, where a white Fiat van had been set on fire. The van was well alight by the time crews
A PRITTLEWELL church was packed with mourners for the funeral of Tory councillor Ann Robertson. Friends, family and colleagues crowded into St Mary’s, in East Street, to deliver touching farewells to Milton Ward councillor Mrs Robertson, 67, who died
ONE of Southend’s biggest employers is celebrating after landing a multi-million pound contract with the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer. Ipeco, which employs about 400 people at its site in Aviation Way, will make cockpit seats for Boeing
POLICE stop-checked 23 cars in Hadleigh at the weekend. Special constables carried out the operation by the old fire station on Friday night. They issued one caution for possession of cannabis and ordered one person to produce their
FREE parking in Basildon, Wickford and Billericay shopping centres will be extended for a year. The recession-busting move was welcomed by shoppers and traders, who say it will help local stores compete with Lakeside and Bluewater retail
TRANSPORT Secretary Lord Adonis assured passengers they will not lose out when National Express is stripped of its East Anglia franchise next year. Passengers using the Southend to London Liverpool Street service had expressed fears the decision
A NEW advice service for unemployed people in Southend has begun. The Skills for Jobs service will hold sessions for people on Friday mornings at the Southend Association of Voluntary Services, in Alexandra Street, Southend. The service is funded by
