WE'VE rounded up some of this week's headlines from Basildon, Castle Point and Southend.

1. ONE of Leigh’s most iconic buildings is set for a new lease of life after property developer and former reality TV star Mick Norcross acquired the freehold on The Grand.

Mr Norcross admits his previous £4.5million plans to turn the Victorian building into a boutique hotel are facing a “rethink”, but he is dedicated to returning the Grand to the people of Leigh and says that after a four-year battle to obtain the freehold, progress would now be much smoother.

Owner of famous Brentwood nightspot The Sugar Hut, and former TOWIE star, Mr Norcross, also told the Echo that the Japanese knotweed, that has blighted the development, is finally under control.

2. DRAMATIC CCTV footage has emerged of an off-duty Met Police officer confronting a knife-wielding teenager in a Southend shopping centre.

PC Ian Molineaux had left the Odeon Cinema, in London Road, with his wife, daughters and friend’s children on Tuesday, February 3, last year, and walked into the Victoria Shopping Centre.

A short time later, at 9.56pm, the children came down the escalator towards him, screaming about a man with a knife.

The off-duty officer instructed his family to stay back as he attempted to talk to the 18-year-old, who was brandishing a 12-inch carving knife.

3. A MAN has died after he was hit by “several” lorries on a busy dual carriageway, causing gridlock for Essex motorists.

Police were called to junction 17 of the A12, near Howe Green, just after 6am on Wednesday following reports of a collision.

The 65-year-old man, from Wickford, got out of his car which was parked in a layby and was then struck by at least one HGV.

4. TWO dogs are in a critical condition after the latest suspected poisoning near Cherry Orchard Country Park, Rochford.

Roy Knott, 71, of Whitehouse Meadows, Eastwood, was walking his two nine-year-old Labradors just off Cherry Orchard Way at 2.30pm on Tuesday.

After finishing the walk he put the dogs in his car and took them home, but by 3.30pm they had collapsed and Mr Knott rushed them to the MediVet 24 Hour Hospital in Eastwoodbury Lane, Eastwood.

5. A drunk man who took a night out a bit too far when he stripped naked and started damaging cars on Southend seafront has been ordered to abide by an night-time curfew.

Tom O’Neill, 32, of no fixed address, was charged after a number of videos of him started circulating on social media following the rather bizarre incident at about 12.40am on Friday, January 8.

One of the videos, posted with the caption “So this happened down Southend seafront tonight... An extremely drunk Irish fella stark, butt naked trying to fight oncoming cars!”, shows him running towards cars in the middle of the road, surrounded by discarded clothes.

6. Stolen puppy 'Ralph' has been reunited with his owners in Stanford-le-Hope after he was taken during a burglary.

The seven-week-old chocolate and tan Dachshund, named Ralph, was returned by police to his owners last night.

Detectives were contacted at around 10pm on Tuesday by a woman from the Rochford area who had been given the dog and recognised it was missing from social media.

7. A GRAYS man has been jailed for 18 months after breaking into his grandparents’ home and stealing £8,000 and “a lifetime of sentimental jewellery.”

Ben Hobby, 21, who was of no fixed address at the time of the offences last year, was sent down at Basildon Crown Court yesterday after pleading guilty to the burglary at granddad Lloyd Hobby’s home in Woodside, Grays, while he was away in September.

He was also sentenced for the theft of almost £5,000 in cash and thousands of pounds worth of jewellery from a friend’s home he was staying at in July while homeless, as well as possession of cannabis and cocaine.

8. BUSINESSES hope restored night street lighting will boost their part of Canvey, but insist some defective lamps still need urgent attention.

Lights have been turned back on along Furtherwick Road and a section of Eastern Esplanade after a campaign by businesses and councillors.

They argued the nightly 1am to 5am switch-off, as part of Essex County Council’s part night lighting scheme, was harming Canvey’s booming nightlife.

9. A MOVIE fan who saved a complete stranger’s life when his heart stopped beating during a screening has been hailed as a hero.

Gary Strohmer, 53, was watching the Theory of Everything at Empire Cinemas, Basildon, when a man in the same row as him fainted.

Fellow cinema-goer Philip Badman fell ill after a muscle defect prevented his heart from beating and supplying his brain with oxygen.

Gary, of Hampstead Gardens, Hadleigh, leapt to Philip’s rescue, helping to get his heart started again before the emergency services arrived.

10. A 10 stone dog has arrived at a Dogs Trust rehoming centre.

Buddy is a 10.4 stone Malamute husky and has become the heaviest dog at the Dogs Trust Centre in Basildon.

An average male Malamute should weigh around 34kg, but at 66kg Buddy is the same weight as singers Justin Bieber and Zayn Malik.