Rochford District Council has decided to keep Saturday afternoon parking free in council-run car parks. The move was made possible after a £60,000 saving was identified from a contingency fund put in place with the introduction of the Local Council
PLANS for a new GP surgery in Wickford have been passed after a heated meeting. Basildon Council's development control meeting discussed the controversial proposals for the surgery, which would replace the current London Road doctors, tonight in
ESSEX are in a strong position to complete their second County Championship Division Two win of the season at Chelmsford on Wednesday having reduced Gloucestershire to 194 for four in their second innings – still needing a further 123 runs to make
THOUSANDS of pounds of National Lottery cash is helping workers in Castle Point get fit. Sport England’s Community Sport Activation Fund has earmarked £82,000 over the next three years for an Active Colleagues project. The money will be split between
A CARNIVAL queen who led the 1948 Canvey Carnival is looking forward to her role in this year’s event. Edna Bowden, 88, headed the carnival when she was 21 and is hoping to join other former queens and princesses during the procession on July 12
FORMER Southend United full-back Sean Clohessy said he had no hesitation in joining their Essex rivals Colchester United. Clohessy, who spent three years at Blues before joining Kilmarnock last summer, has signed a two-year deal with League One
THE internationally acclaimed Philadelphia Boys Choir will be performing at the Village Green: Next Generation festival. The choir which has sung with Pavarotti and for Barack Obama, will be performing in Chalkwell Park as the finale to Metal’s
A WOMAN opened her window blind to find a man trying to break in to her home. The 34-year-old victim had been out and when she returned home she heard banging outside her living room window. She pulled the blind up and was confronted with a
ESSEX Police are investigating an incident on Canvey this afternoon. A number of police cars have been seen in Stevens Close and on the High Street with the police helicopter circling overheard. An Essex Police spokesman said: "Police are investigating
A £2.5MILLION specialist surgery centre is set to be built at Southend Hospital. The vascular centre, treating patients with hardened arteries or life-threatening bleeding, moved a step closer after the hospital board signed off plans. The
EXPECTANT parents are invited to a free pregnancy event in Billericay. Mums and dads-to-be can learn about hypnobirthing, antenatal classes, pregnancy and post natal massages, fitness classes, pregnancy reflexology and more. Free goody bags
LEE Barnard cannot wait to start pre-season training with Southend United today as he bids to rediscover his best form. The striker scored just once in 14 games after returning to Roots Hall on loan last January. But the 29-year-old, who has
THIEVES broke into a Tesco supermarket and tried to steal the safe. They broke into the shop, in Mandeville Way, Basildon at about 12.15am on June 20 by forcing the back door. Once inside, they tried to creep in the area where the safe was
AUDITIONS will be held for the Southend Hospital’s Got Talent 2014 competition. They will take place at Masters Performing Arts College, in Arterial Road, Rayleigh, on Sunday, July 6, and Sunday, July 13, from 10am to 4pm. Those who love singing
Southend Rugby Club have completed the signing of Saracens legend Kris Chesney. The 40-year-old back-row made more than 300 appear-ances during 14 seasons with Sarries. But he will now be lining up for the Seasiders next season, much to the
Olympic champion Chris Boardman has got his fingers crossed for a Mark Cavendish victory on stage one of the Tour de France on Saturday, but believes it is a "big ask" for the sprint specialist. Boardman, who won his individual pursuit gold medal
ESSEX has been leading the way in becoming leaner and more effective as the Government forces county councils across the country to slash costs. That’s the claim of one of the county’s most influential councillors, David Finch, who has celebrated
ALEX Dowsett joins a host of other Brits not racing in the Tour de France, the latest being 13-Tour veteran David Millar. The 37-year-old Scot had been expected to take part in his 13th Tour before retiring at the end of the season, but he now
THE Leigh Folk Festival – the largest free event of its kind in the UK – proved to be bigger and better than ever. Headliners included Mike Heron and Trembling Bells, She’Koyokh, Danny and the Champions of the World, and Stick in the Wheel.
A FOOTBALL tournament is due to be held this weekend to mark the end of a young people’s leadership course. Eighteen Basildon youngsters will take part in Sunday’s event, in Wickford Memorial Park, after completing a six-week project. The youngsters
A PROPOSAL to lobby councils and businesses to follow in County Hall’s footsteps on streetlights has been branded “outrageous’’. One of the recommendations of the county council’s scrutiny group is that the council’s cabinet should launch a “major
YOUNGSTERS from across the county will be showing off their sporting talents at the Essex School Games. The event will be held at the Basildon Sporting Village on Wednesday, from 10am until 4pm. It will see more than 1,200 young people from
DIVISION THREE BENFLEET have a spring in their step after securing their first league win of the season at the seventh attempt. The Woodside park team were bowled out for 169 but then put Woodford Green to the sword for 127 to secure a 36-run
DIVISION THREE A FINE all round performance from Kellon Carmichael helped Hadleigh & Thundersley beat Woodford Wells by six wickets at their John Burrows base on Saturday. Carmichael took two wickets before scoring 78 runs to help Hadleigh
A CAPTAIN’S innings from Leigh’s Dean Waller ensured his side made it three wins in a row and carried them over 100 points. Waller’s terrific 125 from only 96 balls – including 19 fours and five sixes – steered Leigh to victory against Gidea Park
BASILDON Hospital’s patients suffered the smallest number of bedsores of any hospital in the whole country, figures suggest. Bedsores, otherwise known as pressure ulcers, flare up when skin is put under pressure, often when bed-bound patients are
ARTS organisations across Essex are set to receive almost £9million funding over the next three years. The funding announced by Arts Council England will see seven National portfolio organisations in Essex receive £8,709,622 ensuring their work
VETERAN cyclist Jason White has backed his close friend Alex Dowsett to bounce back from the disappointment of missing out on a place at this year’s Tour de France. Dowsett, from Maldon, was not picked as part of Movistar’s nine-man team for the
A GROUP of friends have cycled more than 300 miles to raise £15,000 for charity. The team of 12 friends from Leigh, Canvey and Berkshire, cycled 300 miles from West Leigh Baptist Church in Leigh and finished four days later in Paris. The team
EAST Thurrock manager John Coventry will apologise to the manager of AFC Sudbury after Kris Newby agreed to join Rocks – despite having already signed a deal with the Suffolk club. Coventry was on holiday in Greece when he was told that Newby had
TEENAGE cyclist George Wood said he surpassed all his expectations after enjoying a successful maiden British Road Race Championships. Wood, 18, did not finish the 117-mile race but was diverted off the course with three loops remaining, after
BURGLARS stole a £22,000 Mercedes car from the drive of a house in Billericay. They broke into the house, in Wash Road, between 5.30am and 4.30pm on June 18 to get the keys to the 2012 Mercedes E220. The car was found by police at 7pm the same
A BENEFIT cheat has avoided a jail term after swindling nearly £13,000. Jemma Rose Donnelly, 35, failed to tell Basildon Council and the Department for Work and Pensions that her partner had moved into her house in Beauchamps Drive, Wickford.
BURST water main caused chaos in a Basildon street. Residents in Tangham Walk were left stranded in their homes after a pipe burst on Friday morning, forcing water to out into the road and making the street, pavement and verges resemble a muddy
ESSEX streets will remain in darkness at night for the forseeable future because LED lights are “too expensive”. An Essex County Council scrutiny committee, comprising councillors from different political backgrounds, was set up to discuss the
A TASTE of the Edinburgh festival comes to Holland-on-Sea at the weekend when the 101st Stand Up For Labour comedy show is staged. The venture started as a Labour Party fundraiser, organised by Crispin Flintoff in 2012 and has since attracted big
BILLERICAY High Street is “just about surviving” after several businesses have left the town, according to traders. Sports Heritage, next to Argos, and a greengrocers, in TheWalk, are the latest businesses to shut their doors for good. Italian
AN OFFICE partially collapsed on top of two security guards after it was hit by a car. Two staff at the New Holland Tractor Plant in Cranes Farm Road, Basildon, were taken to Southend Hospital with head and leg injuries, after a man backed his
This year’s Britain’s Got Talent winners and runner-up have announced they are playing two live dates at the Cliffs Pavilion, Westcliff next year. Collabro are a boy band with a difference, in that they sing music form the musical theatre.
NEW trains, new destinations, new tickets and a money-back guarantee if trains are more than two minutes late are on the way for rail passengers as part of a huge investment programme by c2c. Train operator c2c has pledged a raft of improvements
CYCLING veteran Jason White has encouraged everyone to get out and support the British riders as the Tour de France comes to Essex. The Tour will be hitting the county in only six days time and White, who owns JD Cycles in Benfleet, says this once-in-a-lifetime
A MAN stole cash and cigarettes after threatening a shop assistant with a knife in the latest raid on a Martin’s newsagent in Basildon. Police are already investigating a string of nine similar raids in the past eight months – two of them at the
Pick up today's Echo for an 8-page special of pictures from Basildon's Race for Life event as well as spreads of pictures from Armed Forces Day celebrations across the south of the county and Southend's Concert in the Park.
A MAGICIAN who transformed his garage into a theatre was hand-picked to show off his hobby on TV. Tony Draper – stage name AnthonyDee – featured in the Weekend chat show yesterday, hosted by Aled Jones. Mr Draper caught the eye of ITV producers
MORE than 1,000 women got down and dirty to raise money for the fight against cancer. They waded through a muddy obstacle course in Basildon’s Gloucester Park in aid of Cancer Research UK. The annual Race for Life fundraising extravaganza kicked
