Archive

  • Hayley is Wonder Woman on BBC's Total Wipeout

    AFTER shedding eight stone, beating cancer and enduring six failed IVF attempts, Hayley Black is used to overcoming obstacles. So when faced with “Rake in the Face”, “Tight Rope of Terror” and “The Dread-mill” on BBC1 game show Total Wipeout

  • Bard's work is child's play

    GETTING kids into Shakespeare can be a challenge, but there’s one theatre company with it’s sights firmly set on engaging youngsters in the work of the Bard. Shakespeare 4 Kidz is the brainchild of director Julian Chenery and he’s bringing one of it’

  • Workshops and show beat drum for Balinese art

    THE intricate art of gamelan drumming is coming to Southend for a special show and workshop this weekend. The gamelan is a Balinese percussion instrument – a complicated set of interlocking parts – so huge it requires between ten and 30 people to play

  • Council votes to sell off playing fields for homes

    CAMPAIGNERS have lost their battle to save cherished playing fields from housing development. Basildon councillors gave plans for 73 homes on Kent View Road recreation ground in Vange the green light during a heated meeting, despite passionate

  • Praise for County Hall as it repaints crossing

    A BADLY faded zebra crossing has been repainted after a retired vicar said pedestrians using it were putting their lives at risk. Essex County Council repainted the crossing near shops in Ballards Walk, Basildon, after the Echo highlighted the Rev Ron

  • Westcliff host Colchester in Essex derby clash

    RUNAWAY London One North leaders Westcliff face an Essex derby against Colchester tomorrow. Westcliff have won 13 of their 14 league games so far this season and are currently 13 points clear at the top of the table. Colchester will represent a tough

  • Our bins checks will not be snooping, says council

    COUNCIL bosses plan to sift through the contents of people’s bins in the Rochford district. Officers at the council want to take random samples of rubbish to find out which areas are not sticking to strict recycling rules. Bosses have refuted accusations

  • Petition is launched to save full-time fire crews

    PARTY allegiances have been thrown aside as politicians of all colours rally to protect Canvey’s under-threat firefighters. Castle Point’s Tory MP Rebecca Harris has criticised cost-saving proposals to replace full-time cover at the island’s Long Road

  • British tourists evacuated from Tunisia

    HOLIDAYMAKERS from south Essex may be among 1,800 British tourists being brought home from strife-torn Tunisia. Travel company Thomas Cook said it was suspending its Tunisia programme and evacuating the holidaymakers from the North African

  • Hammers legend Dicks says club can beat the drop

    JULIAN Dicks believes West Ham will beat the drop and that under-fire manager Avram Grant is doing a good job. And the Hammers legend says he expects them to take something out tomorrow’s derby showdown with Arsenal at Upton Park. He

  • We will fight to save police station

    Was amazed to read Essex Police is thinking of closing Canvey police station after announcing only a few months ago Benfleet police station was due to close. Castle Point’s crime rate will go though the roof. At present Canvey’s crime rate has

  • Wrong days for rubbish bags

    I’m amazed by the number of people who continually put their rubbish out for collection on the wrong day. Almost every week I see pink recycling sacks on the week that they are not collected. On weeks containing bank holidays, surely everyone

  • Ask businesses for donations

    Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock, when interviewed on TV, stated: “MPs of today are not from manufacturing or business and have little knowledge of that world. MPs are from universities with little acumen of business” which seems to cover some

  • Insurance disc is the answer

    Once again, the question of motorists being uninsured has been raised. Apart from the fact that if one is involved in a traffic accident with one of these parasites, there are many problems arising when claiming damages. Also every insured driver

  • Rarely trouble at White Horse

    I am a regular at the White Horse pub, in Southchurch, and read the report about the pub’s licence review (Jan 10). I visit the pub at least three times a week and can honestly say it is not a den of iniquity as the police are making out. It

  • That’s the way to profit!

    When will the great British people wake up to the reverse Robin Hood practice they suffer? It goes like this: An essential, nationally owned industrial concern – travel, oil, electricity, gas, water – is flogged off to the private sector at rock

  • Town centre deserves more than an ‘ugly shed’

    Couldn’t agree more with county architect Susan Waldock (Jan 12) about the negative impact the planned Morrisons store would have on Hadleigh. If an unstoppable giant wants to dominate such a large chunk of the town, at least it ought to fit

  • Road works are scaring away customers from my business

    A BUSINESSMAN told how ongoing gas works are hurting his trade. Laurie Green, who runs boating store Boatacs with his son Philip, cannot wait for National Grid works to come to an end in London Road, Chalkwell. He said the work, which started last

  • BLUE SQUARE BET SOUTH: Fleet look to climb out of drop zone

    THURROCK will climb out of the relegation zone for the first time in three months tomorrow if they avoid defeat at home to Welling United. With 19th-placed Dartford not playing, a point or better for Fleet would lift them clear of the drop zone. Welling

  • ESSEX SENIOR LEAGUE: Manor hope to get game on with Eton

    SOUTHEND Manor hope to get their home game against Eton Manor on tomorrow as they chase their 12th-straight win. Third-placed Southend Manor have seen matches against Stansted and Takeley rained off in recent weeks, but chairman Bob Westley says they

  • Depeche Mode - the making of a Basildon supergroup

    WHEN music journalist Simon Spence was a teenager in the Eighties, he nursed an embarrassing secret. There was this band from Basildon, and they were one of his favourites. He kept very quiet about the fact, however. “It wasn’t cool to even

  • Sonny set to switch roles as Southend bid to bounce back

    SONNY Gay is set to switch to the wing when Southend Rugby Club host Shelford tomorrow. But the 20-year-old is not relishing his new role in the team. Gay has figured at centre so far this season but will be pushed out wide as the Seasiders look to

  • Sturrock won't take risk on Mohsni

    BLUES boss Paul Sturrock is not prepared to rush Bilel Mohsni back from injury, despite the defender’s importance to the team. Southend have triumphed just once in the league without the French centre-back who is currently sidelined with an ankle injury

  • Castle Point Show may be axed top save council money

    THE Castle Point show may not go ahead after the council announced it could be scrapped to help balance its books. The popular summer event at Waterside Farm, which was attended by about 6,500 people last year, is on a list of 19 possible cuts to help

  • Labour slams Government over abandoned homes

    LABOUR councillors have attacked Government plans to make it harder for councils to take over empty or abandoned homes and return them to use. Councils will have to wait two years to take control of empty properties under new measures announced by Tory

  • Baker set for home debut

    ESSEX Pirates fans will have their first chance to see veteran England point guard Ronnie Baker in action when they host Glasgow Rocks tomorrow evening. The 41-year-old is England’s most capped player, having collected 154 caps in an international career

  • Charity’s base could go in redevelopment

    A CHARITY praised by Basildon Council for the work it does with the homeless could lose its base because of the £1billion town centre masterplan. Basildon Community Re-source Centre, based in the unusual triangle building in The Gore, Basildon, is in

  • Arts park could be run by charity

    A CHARITY could be set up to look after the High House Production Park in Purfleet once the Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation disbands in 2012. If a charity was established to manage the site and its commercial activities, it is claimed

  • Dartford’s tolls need axeing this year, say businesses

    AN Essex business group has urged the Government to hit the accelerator with plans to scrap toll booths on the hugely-congested Dart-ford river crossing. Leaders from the Essex Federation of Small Businesses want Roads Minister, Mike Penning, to speed

  • Jailed for ten years over meat cleaver street attack

    A THUG pumped up on steroids who slashed a man with a meat cleaver has been jailed for ten years. Ronald Olliffe, 30, launched the sickening attack outside the Sunrooms, in Market Place, Southend. He lost his temper after bouncers kicked

  • Shopping area to be target of drug team

    DRUG dealers and addicts in Westcliff are being targeted by police. Numerous residents have complained about people loitering on the streets buying and selling class A drugs while dumping their needles on the pavements. Police have now launched a crackdown

  • Fuel thieves nearly cost Jade her life

    A YOUNG woman narrowly avoided a crash after thieves drilled a hole in her fuel tank. Jade Relton, 23, skidded on a road because petrol had poured over her tyres. Her Fiat Punto stopped sideways across Nether Mayne, Basildon, where it

  • Southend Airport link road plans progress

    PLANS to build a new link road near Southend Airport have taken a step forward. Southend councillors have backed plans to give up five hectares of St Laurence Park to make way for the road, between Eastwoodbury Lane and Nestuda Way.

  • Corr looking to continue scoring streak

    BARRY Corr will be looking to improve what is already his most prolific professional season ever when Southend United visit high-flying Rotherham tomorrow. The Irishman has scored in his last three games to take his tally for the campaign to