A GRIEVING daughter has organised a Christmas shopping extravaganza to fulfil her father’s dying wish. Natalie Deacon, 37, who lost her dad Peter Whitcombe, 60, to cancer last month, will stage a Laindon Christmas shopping afternoon to raise money
SOUTHEND United will be without striker Myles Weston for Saturday's game with Hartlepool. Weston is currently on international duty with Antigua and the former Gillingham forward scored on his debut in a 2-2 draw against Haiti in the Caribbean
TWO much-loved festive characters have stepped in to turn Southend’s Christmas lights after David Hasselhoff pulled out. Raymond Briggs’ the Snowman and the Snowdog, from the much-loved festive cartoon, will switch on the festive lights in Southend
VIOLENT crime and burglary are the top priorities for Rochford and Castle Point’s new police commander. Chief Insp Lesley Ford is returning to south Essex after serving in a wide range of roles during 26 years with Essex Police. For the past
THE old adage one man’s trash is another man’s treasure was proved at a celebration in Rayleigh to say thanks to families who recycle. More than 400 people visited Mill Arts and Events Centre to help celebrate ten years since Rochford District
A MAN has been charged with sexually assaulting a girl, aged nine, in an alleyway. Steven Partridge, 22, of York Road, Southend, was arrested yesterday in Harlow in connection with the sexual assault of a primary school pupil in an alleyway connecting
A TALENTED teenager hopes to raise money for Children in Need with a seven-hour non-stop singing marathon. Arianna Morgan, 13, is staging her musical marathon on Friday at Lakeside Shopping Centre, West Thurrock. Last year the Thundersley teenager
STAFF and learners at Southend Adult Community College are celebrating a successful Ofsted inspection. The college in Ambleside Drive, Southchurch, achieved a rating of “outstanding” in its early years and playwork and visual arts curriculum areas
TWO schoolgirls have had their dress designs made and displayed on the catwalk after reaching a fashion competition final. Victoria Kuponiyi, 17, and Tabarek Hufthy, 14, of Southend High School for Girls were finalists in the Liberty Shopping Centre
BASILDON Council is warning people not to the feed ducks in a popular park in a bid halt a rat infestation in a popular borough park. In recent months the rat population by the lake in Lake Meadows, Billericay, has flourished after feeding off
IT WAS a disappointing performance and result for us against Cambridge at the weekend as our winning run came to an end. Playing on the Sunday made for a great day for the club and there was a really good crowd in attendance. But it just seems
JOHN Ness wants to bow out with a bang when he brings his boxing career to an end tomorrow. The 52-year-old from Leigh on Sea will be facing an opponent 22 years younger than him at the latest fight night at the Boatyard Restuarant in his home-town
FOOD banks are continuing to open across south Essex despite the claimed upturn in the economy. Only last week, the Trussell Trust opened a food bank at Great Wakering Methodist Church, in the High Street. At the beginning of September, it opened
SOUTHEND United loanee Jerome Binnom-Williams is backing whoever fills in for him at left-back to shine against Hartlepool this weekend. Binnom-Williams, who is with the Shrimpers from Crystal Palace, will miss the match with the Monkeyhangers
GREAT Wakering Rovers’ under-11 team will be making hisssstory this season with their new sponsor. The Colts will be sponsored by Southend reptile store ‘Snakes Alives’ for the new season – the first time the team has been sponsored from an organisation
NOT long now, and don’t parents know it! The Christmas rush is getting earlier and earlier for people desperate to get their hands on those must-have toys. The top 12 dream toys for this Christmas have already been picked out by the Toy Retailers
THE East of England Ambulance Service has seen an improvement in patient satisfaction levels. All patients and carers who answered an East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) emergency services questionnaire in August rated the service
CRAIG Edwards has said his youthful Billericay Town side are showing signs of returning to their best form after a difficult few months. Town beat an in-form Harlow Town 3-2 in the fourth round of the Essex Senior Cup on Tuesday night to be the
JOSH Vickers has vowed to make a big mark at Concord Rangers this season and has backed the club to achieve more success this year. The 18-year old goalkeeper joined on loan from Premier League giants Arsenal last week and has made an instant impression
YOUNGSTERS have been using their artistic abilities to warn their neighbours about the threat from burglars. A total of 30 pupils from across the Basildon borough entered a competition to design a crime prevention poster to be displayed across
A WOMAN has been ordered to pay £100 for parking in a seafront car park. Andrew Farrelly had treated his daughter to an evening at the Movie Starr cinema in Eastern Esplanade, Canvey. Believing parking was free after 6pm, the dad and his daughter
A TRAIN to London from Southend has been cancelled at the airport. The 7.52am Greater Anglia service from Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street was terminated at Southend Airport due to a train fault. It was due in Liverpool Street at
TAILBACKS are building on the A127 after a motorbike accident. Prince Avenue was closed Southend-bound just after the Tesco roundabout following a motorbike crash, in which the motorcyclist was the only one involved, at about 7.20am. Emergency
SEVEN houses have been ransacked in two days. Affluent properties in Benfleet were turned upside down by a gang of burglars who stole jewellery and electrical goods. Six raids were carried out on Monday in Shipwrights Drive, Common Road and
A THUG threatened to stab a 51-year-old woman if she didn’t hand over her bag. The robbery happened in Tyler Avenue, Laindon, at 10.55pm on Monday – one of two knifepoint robberies reported in the Basildon area this week. The victim was walking
THE widow of a man who died at Southend Hospital claims he was treated “worse than an animal” in the weeks before his death. Maureen Perkins, 75, of Mildmayes, Langdon Hills, spoke out after an inquest ruled David Perkins’s death in the hospital
RESIDENTS are celebrating after winning their year-long battle to stop cars driving up and down a footpath. Essex County Council has spent £1,000 on bollards at the corner of Southwell Link, on the Five Links estate, in Laindon, after being inundated
THE Loose End Girls, a group of nine Laindon knitters, have created a woollen Christmas – to try to raise money for Little Haven children’s hospice. The knitting club has been going since June and will create woollen tree decorations – and an unusual
THE south Essex mixed martial arts community has been left stunned after the sudden loss of one of its best-loved fighters. Mixed martial arts fighter “Smokin’” Joe Emmons, was found dead at home in Southchurch on Saturday, at the age of 40.
A GROUP of artists turned an empty wall into a poppy memorial in time for Remembrance Day events. John Bulley, 63, and his team created the gigantic poppy by the railway bridge in Southend High Street. The poppy was painted in time for Remembrance
SUPERMARKET giant Aldi has its sights set on south Essex as part of its bid to double its number of stores in the next eight years. The discount retailer announced it aims to have 1,000 stores nationwide by 2022 – between 60 and 65 opening next
In America, November is Adopt a Senior Pet Month, when people are encouraged to pass over the puppies and choose a grey-snootered lovely as their own. I have been a supporter of taking in elderly dogs for years and although my own were two and
