LORD Hanningfield has been asked by County Hall to repay wrongly-claimed expenses - or face another appearance in court. Essex County Council has written to its former leader demanding he repays any expenditure occurred for personal use. Now
SOUTHEND cricketers will be taking on Essex County Cricket Club in a special match this summer. Members of Southend on Sea & EMT Cricket Club will face the county side at their Southchurch Park home on Wednesday, July 24. The match is in
A DOCTORS surgery threatened with closure has been saved to the delight of its 1,500 patients. The future of Knights Surgery, off Markhams Chase, Laindon, was in doubt after its sole GP Dr Andrew Holman announced he was taking early retirement.
A MAN was rushed to hospital after trying to rescue a dog from the sea. An air ambulance, rapid response car and land ambulance were called to Western Esplanade, on Canvey at around 2:20pm after the man in his 50s got into difficulties trying to
WESTCLIFF Hardcourts Tennis Club is offering newcomers to the sport or those who have not played for a while a chance to get into the game. Dubbed "Rusty Rackets and Newbies", the sessions start on Saturday, March 23, between 6pm and 7pm. The
STUART Bingham will be hoping Irish eyes are smiling on him when he gets his Players Tour Championship Grand Finals campaign underway in Galway today. The world number eight, from Vange, faces Wisbech’s Joe Perry in the opening round at the Bailey
JOHN Dignum admits it’ll be a “learning curve” when he faces the experienced Kieron Gray in his fourth pro fight at York Hall next week. The 20-year-old from Bowers Gifford, who is on the undercard of the Billy Joe Saunders title fight, will face
POLICE are appealing for the driver of a car to come forward following an accident where a ten-year-old boy suffered injuries. Officers believe the male driver may not even have been aware the accident happened when he drove away. PHe had been
A WOMAN was left waiting in agony with kidney stones for five hours for an ambulance to turn up. Colette Hornsby had been discharged from Southend Hospital nine days after first going to hospital with kidney stones. She was allowed home to
The dense, dark, winding corridors of Gormenghast will be brought to life at Clifftown Theatre next week as East 15’s physical theatre students take on a stage adaptation of the classic novel in an ambitious production. The gothic fantasy novel
ROBBERS smashed a car windscreen with kosh before threatening two men inside the vehicle. The victims had been driving a grey Ford Focus in Edith Road, Canvey, when two men stood in the road to block their path. One of them smashed the passenger's
HOPES have been rekindled to reopen an emergency health service on Canvey in the wake of new NHS reforms. The Saturday service, at the Oaklands Surgery in the Central Canvey Primary Care Centre, in Long Road, was axed last November despite calls
IT STANDS two-foot tall and contains 3lbs of meat, but so far no-one has managed to eat it all. The supersized burger, named the Deep Throat Challenge, is being sold at Lunch in a Bag in Fairfax Drive, Westcliff. It consists of six beef patties
A SPORTS car was torched by yobs on Canvey before the owner was injured trying to put it out. Police are investigating the fire which happened at the junction of Second Avenue/ and Link Road on March 4. The black Lamborghini Gallardo appears
PLAIN clothes police have been operating near Westcliff Library to catch drug pushers. They have launched Operation Doublet following a series of calls about dealers using bicycles and in cars. Many have been darting in and out of alleyways
WE have two absolute must win matches coming up at Roots Hall in quick succession. We play Torquay United there this Saturday before Plymouth Argyle visit the following Tuesday and we need to take six points. If we do that then the league table
A MAN has been left with serious face injuries after an attack. Police are appealing for witnesses after the 49-year-old was glassed in the face outside Fatty’s Bar in High Street, Hadleigh. The victim, who lives locally, suffered a cut to
TWO struggling primary schools have been praised by Ofsted after their latest inspection showed drastic improvements. The Phoenix Primary School and Briscoe Primary Academy have both been given positive feedback after recent monitoring reports
HE’S a hardened English rocker, one of the original Stiff Records signings who’s worked with Nick Lowe and Ian Dury. She’s a New York singer-songwriter who grew up among the electric Seventies punk scene of the city. The somewhat eclectic pairing
IN a world of bland manufactured music, one teen act is going his own way. Jake Bugg’s gritty vocals and stomping, jangly guitar is a sharp contrast to the shiny sounds of One Direction, Little Mix and the like. He grew up on a council estate
IT may not seem that long ago, but it’s 16 years since Stereophonics burst out of their South Wales home town, Cwmaman, with their debut album Word Gets Around. Since then they’ve released chart-topping albums, had fallouts with band members, and
SOUTHEND United are closing in on a trio of loan signings. Tamika Mkandawire, Ben Reeves and Matthew Lund all look set to commit their short term futures to the League Two club. And the Echo understands the transfers can now be completed after
SOUTHEND’S gritters were not to blame for the gridlock that brought the town to a standstill. Tony Cox, the Tory councillor responsible for transport at Southend Council, defended his team’s actions yesterday and claimed no more could have been
A PRIVATE firm, lined up to test Essex patients’ blood under controversial plans, fiddled its data to meet NHS targets. A Government watchdog has revealed Serco, a parent company of GSTS, made unauthorised alterations to its figures on more than
RAP took centre stage at the House of Commons for the first time with a Southend performer leading the way. Sonny Green, 18, from Southend’s Kursaal estate, became the first-ever rapper to perform at parliament as part of a charity gig. Sonny
