WESTCLIFF Lawn’s veteran team are determined to wrestle back the Ian Pitt Veterans Cup from Gidea Park next year. Defending champions Westcliff Lawn lost 2½-½ to Gidea Park in Sunday’s Essex County LTA final at Deanes Indoor Tennis Centre in Thundersley
LULU Alexandra was crowned national figure skating champion — just 11 weeks after being run-over by a car! She claimed the Exhibition and Free Skating titles, and came runner up in the Artistic category at the Adult British Figure Skating Championships
SATURDAY ESSEX COUNTY FA COMPETITIONS Saturday Premier Cup semi-finals: Rayleigh Town v Newbury Forest, Sandon Royals v Stambridge United. ESSEX OLYMPIAN LEAGUE Senior Division Cup quarter-final: Castle United v Old Barkabbeyans. Reserve Division
SOUTHEND United have appointed a new chief executive officer. Gary Lockett, a non-executive director with the club since 2008, has taken over the role left by Tara Brady in early February. Local businessman Lockett said it was a “huge honour” to represent
SOUTHEND United have completed the loan signing of left-back Lee Hills from Crystal Palace. Hills, 21, impressed playing as a trialist for Blues in a friendly at Braintree Town on Tuesday night. And he has now been signed by manager Paul Sturrock until
BASILDON Hospital’s new children’s A&E opens its doors today – just as fundraisers reach their £100,000 target for decorating the department. The ten-bed emergency treatment ward is kitted out with flat-screen televisions, twinkling star ceilings
BOXER Jake Fitt-Spooner has set his sights on a call-up to the England team after winning the National Schoolboys Championship. The 14-year-old Basildon pugilist claimed the Class Three under-40kg crown in Nottinghamshire. And now he hopes his performance
TRIBUTES have been paid to a war hero who landed on the D-Day beaches of Normandy when he was a teenager. Ernie Dark was 19 when he landed in Normandy with the 7th Armoured Division on June 6, 1944. But despite his age and inexperience
CANVEY rookie Charlie Clare today begins a journey he hopes will take him all the way to the European Tour. The former Cornelius Vermuryden School pupil officially turns pro this morning after cutting his teeth as an amateur at the Boyce Hill club in
SOUTHEND Hospital has organised an event for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community this evening. The hospital's LGBT network and sexual health department, in conjunction with NHS South Essex and The Cliff pub, is holding the
IT’S been a well-documented testing time for us all over the last few days. There has been plenty of doom and gloom and there can be no denying we’ve had a disappointing couple of months. But it’s time to be positive again now and for us all to be lifted
A PETROL station worker was robbed of thousands of pounds at knifepoint by a masked man. The robber used a black ski mask to cover his face and armed himself with a kitchen knife when he entered Bell Corner Service Station in Stanford-le-Hope. Police
LEE Sawyer hopes a goalscoring return to action can get him back in to the Southend United squad for Saturday’s game at Burton Albion. Sawyer scored for Blues in their 3-1 win at Braintree Town in a friendly on Tuesday night. And he now wants that to
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A MUM is set to follow in her husband’s footsteps and save one of their children’s lives by giving up a kidney. Oliver Wishick, eight, and big sister Ella, 14, were both born with chronic kidney failure, although the illness is not proven to be genetically
POLICE officers flocked to Newington Avenue, Southend, this afternoon to arrest a man wanted on recall to prison. Lee Whyte, 29, was last known to be living in Basildon. He was wanted on recall to prison after breaching his parole. The police helicopter
BOWERS & PITSEA claimed the bragging rights in the new town derby with BASILDON UNITED on Tuesday with a 4-2 win at Gardiners Close. It meant John Doyle’s side, spearheaded by the pacy front pairing of Calvin Poku and Michael Salako, took revenge for
FANS have slammed the FA’s decision to stage this year’s county cup final at Thurrock’s Ship Lane ground. Non-league Canvey will face the county’s highest-ranked team Colchester United in the showpiece event on April 16. Gulls fans were hoping it might
GREAT Wakering’s recent resurgence hit the buffers on Tuesday night as they lost 2-0 at home to promotion-hopefuls Brentwood Town at Burroughs Park, writes Brian Jeeves. It was always going to be a tall order against the visitors, who named ex-Football
It is a pity more people, particularly fellow fishermen, have not spoken up in support of Paul Gilson. Earlier press reports encouraged the belief that Mr Gilson had been fined for vastly exceeding fishing quotas. This is not the case. He upset
Anna Waite thinks druggies and single mothers are killing trade in Southend High Street. It would be great to be married with two incomes and a nice family business. But I’m not. Instead, I gave my well-paid job up in order to be a better parent
STEVE Tilson is again teaming up with Danny Greaves, 27 years after the same combination launched his professional football career. Tilson was recommended to then Blues boss David Webb by Greaves in 1989 when they played together in the same Witham Town
SOUTHEND United goalkeeper Glenn Morris is struggling to be fit for Saturday’s game at Burton Albion. The shot-stopper picked up a thigh problem during last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Morecambe. And boss Paul Sturrock is not sure if Morris will recover
SOUTHEND Rugby Club’s home clash against high flying Old Albanians will kick-off at 6pm. The Seasiders have decided to push back the start of the game to attract a bigger crowd. And club officials are expecting at least 500 fans to be at Warners Bridge
STEVE Tilson believes Ron Martin’s presence in the Southend United dressing room would only have had a negative affect on the team – and he should know. Tilson spent seven years in charge of Blues before Paul Sturrock took control in July 2010. And
THE widow of a July 7 bomber who is suspected of being part of a terror cell is believed to have stolen the identity of a Southend woman. Kenyan police are hunting Samantha Lewthwaite, 28, after she evaded capture when authorities carried out
A NEW WH Smith store is to open in a shopping centre, bucking the national economic gloom. The store is to open in Billericay High Street in the spring, selling books, newspapers, stationery and magazines. However, traders believe the opening could
MORE than £500,000 is to be spent on creating “nature zones” on a stretch of south Essex coast. The Greater Thames Marshes, which includes Rainham Marshes nature reserve in Purfleet, has been awarded the £571,000 from the Government to improve wildlife
PARENTS are being told what secondary school places children have been given in Southend after an email fault was fixed. Youngsters who are due to start at secondary schools later this year were due to find out this morning where exactly they
A FORMER mayor has hit out at council plans to increase the cost of Southend’s meals on wheels service. Nora Goodman, who volunteers for the service, is supporting the Southend District Pensioner’s Campaign group in its protest against Southend
Motorists faced lenghty jams following a crash on the London-bound A127 this morning (Thursday). By 8am tailbacks strectched all the way back to Southend following the earlier incident near to the Noak Bridge turnoff at Basildon.
TRADERS have praised a politician for claiming too many single mothers, drug addicts and benefit claimants live near Southend’s town centre. High Street shopkeepers hailed Tory Anna Waite, a former leader of Southend Council, for speaking her
A Government minister has given his seal of approval to the new £1.2million Green Centre at Wat Tyler Country Park. Bob Neill, who is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Homes and Communities and MP with responsibility for the Thames Gateway,
ENTHUSIASTIC gardeners celebrated the humble potato with a dedicated day. The Growing Together Community Gardens opened its gates for its second South East Essex Seed Potato Day. With the average person eating 500 potatoes every year
