A SICK little girl will get the help she needs after a heartfelt plea to build her a new bedroom melted the hearts of councillors. Dan and Roslyn Peake, of Albion Road, Benfleet, submitted plans to turn the family garage into a bedroom for their
A PLAYGROUP celebrating its 50th anniversary is searching for the woman who founded the group. St Peter’s (Thundersley) Preschool wants to find founder Pat Ingram after they retraced their history to mark the group’s anniversary, which they will
SOUTH-EAST Essex Schools continued their dominance of the English Track & Field Cup with more stunning showings in the National Final held at Bedford on Saturday. Southend High School for Boys clinched the Inter Boys title, finishing just ahead
SOME Southend schools are expected to close as public sector workers strike in a dispute over pay, pensions, working conditions and jobs. Teachers are expected to walk out of some schools on Thursday, while some staff at Southend Council may also
FIREFIGHTERS will hold an open day in Rayleigh. Rayleigh Weir fire station will be open on Saturday, giving families the chance to meet firefighters and see safety demonstrations. The event will run from 10am until 4pm at the station in Rayleigh
A SWIMMER has been rescued after getting into trouble in the Thames Estuary and hanging onto to Southend Pier for safety. Thames Coastguard were called at 1.45pm with a hovercraft and the inshore lifeboat despatched to rescue the man, believed
Police are appealing for witnesses to an assault during an argument between two parents in Southend. The attack happened in the children’s play area in Southchurch Park off Shaftesury Avenue when a 60-year-old local woman was headbutted by a man
SOUTHEND'S main council building has been evacuated. Scores of people piled out of Southend's Civic Centre in Victoria Avenue after they were told to leave the premises at about 2.15pm. Southend Council said the cause of the evacuation was
A HOSPITAL inspection body has been rapped for failing to take charge over failings at Basildon Hospital. The House of Commons Public Accounts committee said the trust, which runs Basildon Hospital, had been in breach of regulatory standards for
It came and went in the flash of an eye but it would appear the Tour de France has left a lasting impact on Essex. An estimated one million people lined the streets on Monday to welcome the riders to our county, but now the streets have been cleaned
A BRAND new Aldi store will be opening its doors in Pitsea this week. The unveiling of the supermarket, in Northlands Pavement, marks the latest stage of the long awaited £30million regeneration. The new-look Pitsea market opened earlier this
POLICE have named the man murdered on the streets of Southend. Police believe the man who was stabbed outside a property at the junction on York Road and Old Southend Road, Southend, is Hassan Mohammed, 24, of Camberwell, London. A post-mortem
ESSEX County Fire and Rescue Service is urging families and businesses to take extra care and make sure that they are ready for the upcoming Fire Brigade Union Strikes taking place between 10am and 7pm on Thursday July 10. Assistant Chief Fire
SCHOOLS will face some disruption as members of National Union of Teachers strike. There is no requirement for unions to inform schools which members of staff will take action and there is no obligation for members to obey the call for strike action
OFFICERS have stepped up patrols around the area of a brutal stabbing. York Road and the surrounding area in Southend is seeing high visibility policing today following the murder of a 26-year-old man. The man was attacked outside a property
POPULAR former Southend United striker Freddy Eastwood has yet to decide if he will continue playing next season. The 30-year-old striker was released by the Shrimpers at the end of last season. And he is still mulling over his future in the
SPANISH midfielder Alberto De las Heras is on trial with Southend United. The 26-year-old, who can play on either wing or just behind the front man, has teamed up with the Shrimpers during their stint training in Malaga. And De las Heras has
DISRUPTION is expected as hundreds of trade unionists go on strike across south Essex on Thursday. As part of a national day of industrial action, workers who are members of the NUT, GMB, UNISON and Unite are taking strike action on Thursday July
POLITICIANS and business leaders have welcomed the £155million investment to widen the A13, unclog the A127 and revamp Southend town centre. Govenment minister Justine Greening visited the London Gateway superport on Monday, to explain how Government
POLICE are appealing for witnesses to an alleged sex attack on a train. Two teenage girls were travelling from Southend to Billericay when a man started chatting to them. He then went on to sexually assault one of the girls. The incident
POLICE raided an alleged unlicensed scrap yard as part of a continuing crackdown on rogue traders. Officers and council licensing staff spent hours searching the lock ups and businesses at a site in Goodview Road, Basildon. Site owner Ray Coleby
BILLERICAY Town’s talented teenage forward Isaac Layne has been taken on trial by Charlton Athletic. The 19-year-old, who impressed for the Blues after joining last season, will link up with the Addicks under-21 squad in the hope of earning a deal
SHIPS have been warned to slow down following complaints they were disrupting a busy beach. The Port of London Authority (PLA) issued the warning on July 3. Residents had complained to the Coastguard over how fast the big ships were travelling
BATTLE lines will be drawn in the fight to keep a popular outdoor activity park open. Basildon Council and Action Park, off the A127 in Wickford, will go head-tohead in the final stage of a long-running planning dispute. The council wants to
THE UK will plunge into darkness in August to mark the start of the First World War, and Rochford District Council will be part of it. The ‘Lights Out’ campaign is an invitation to everyone in the country to turn off their lights from 10pm to 11pm
RELATIVES of a couple who were found dead during a Kenyan holiday may never know how they met their brutal death. Five years one, it is still not known how Norman Joel, 70, and his wife Rita, 67, came to die at their holiday home in Mombassa.
A DAD who underwent lifesaving transplant surgery is urging others to register as organ donors, after new figures showed 11 Essex people died waiting for transplants in the past year. Wayne Tilbrook, 35, who has Type 1 diabetes, had a kidney and
NEW family homes look set to be built on a long-derelict former industrial site in the centre of Southend. Southend Council is expected to agree plans for 27 two and three-bedroom homes on the site of a former laundry and warehouse between North
RUBBISH dumped in alleyways could put lives at risk if another blaze breaks out on a fire-hit estate, according to residents. People living in Bockingham Green, Basildon, have repeatedly found rubbish and garden waste piled up in an alleyway used
CANVEY'S teenage cyclist George Wood has continued his excellent season with a sprint win over his team-mates at RAF Woodbridge. Wood and his Richardsons-Trek colleagues claimed a 1-2-3 at Saturday’s race in Ipswich, out-sprinting their opponents
A SCHOOLBOY with a rare genetic condition has inspired his classmates to raise vital funds for a children’s hospital. Callum Conway, is one of just 400 youngsters in the country with a rare kidney condition called steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome
HE WON'T be bringing any second hand cars on his visit, but Only Fools and Horses actor John Challis thinks Basildon would have been Boycieﾒs kind of town. The star will be joining onscreen wife Marlene, played by Sue Holderness, at the Eastgate
A MAN who fractured another man’s eye socket with a single punch was told he had avoided jail “by a whisker”. Burly six-footer Thomas Perry, 22, seriously injured victim Mark Cousins when he punched him in a Southend nightclub. Passing sentence
