Archive

  • Residents manage to recycle more

    RESIDENTS that took part in a case study for Southend council managed to recycle 78 per cent of their household waste. The case study was organised by Southend council and Cory Environmental to show how the amount of waste sent to landfill can be

  • Residents urged to enter new bike competition

    GET on your bike to enter a new competition this weekend. Cyclists aged 16 years and older can saddle up this Sunday and take part in Urban Pursuit - an event which starts and finishes in Chalkwell Park. It runs from 10am until 3pm and features

  • How a visit to the doctors could save you from a stroke

    A DOCTOR is pleading for people with heart problems to have regular checks ups, or risk a stroke. Dr Brian Houston says simple checks and medication can save lives. People who have an irregular heartbeat, known as atrial fibrillation

  • Maintenance work means seafront pool will be open

    THE Echo-backed campaign to save a popular seaside paddling pool has won an important victory as the council is carrying out temporary maintenance work to ensure it stays open this summer. Castle Point Council’s chief executive David Marchant says the

  • England team Oscar is top youth fencer

    ALLEYN Court student Oscar Holt continues to foil his rivals as he makes further advances in his fencing career. In April last year he was accepted into the England fencing youth development programme “tomorrow’s achievers”. This is a scheme whereby

  • Police gear up for Southend Airshow

    Police are gearing up for the 25th air show in Southend at the end of the month. The two-day show, now known as the Festival of the Air, is expected to attract hundreds of visitors and Inspector Steve Kilcoyne has been given the task of making sure

  • Southend beach gets tonnes of new sand

    THE Three Shells Beach in Southend has received a makeover with a hundred tonnes of fresh sand. Lorries made the mammoth delivery today, timing the operation carefully when the tide was at its lowest ebb. Those spreading the sand then

  • Boy pleads guilty to brawl over £10 debt

    A REMORSEFUL teenager had a punch-up with his pal over a £10 debt, which left him with serious head injuries. The brawl started outside South East Essex College, Southend. It led to the 16-year-old victim hitting the floor and cracking his head on the

  • CCTV of suspected thieves

    Police have issued CCTV footage of two men wanted for in connection with the theft of a pressure washer from a store in Thundersley. The incident happened at Halfords, in Rayleigh Road, at around 3.00pm on Sunday, 14 April, 2010. Two

  • ‘We’ll control pollution at recycling site’

    DUST and noise from a proposed concrete recycling plant will be tightly controlled, the site’s owner has claimed. Engineering firm Brockwell and Sons made the promise after residents raised fears about possible pollution from their concrete crushing

  • Evans above - it’s flying biker Sid!

    RAYLEIGH’S FitzWimarc School can boast one of the top moto cross riders in the country at his level. Sid Evans, aged 12, who lives in Rayleigh, is enjoying big success at 85cc. In 2009 Sid won the World Masterkids that took place in Belgium on a KTM65

  • 45 minute delays on rail services to and from Southend

    Overhead wire problems are causing disruption to National Express East Anglia trains between Billericay and Rayleigh. All rail services between Shenfield and Southend Victoria are being delayed by up to 45 minutes. Buses are replacing

  • Plans for new Shoebury primary school are revealed

    THIS is the way education bosses expect Shoebury’s new £8million school to look. Southend Council has now submitted a planning application for a replacement building for Hinguar Primary School, in Gunners Park. The three-storey school

  • Guards threatened at gunpoint

    TWO guards were delivering cash to a garage when they were threatened at gunpoint. The security guards were at the Tesco Express in North Road, South Ockendon when they were approached by a man wielding a handgun. He forced them to hand over thousands

  • McSweeney back at Billericay

    FORMER Southend United defender Dave McSweeney, who ended his Billericay Town playing career towards the end of last season due to work commitments, has had a change of heart and will play for the New Lodge club under new boss Craig Edwards in the 2010

  • Crew member badly injured on dredger near Canvey

    A MAN who suffered serious injuries on ship off Canvey this morning was rushed to Southend Pier and taken to hospital. He is believed to Dutch and in his mid 40s and was working on a dredger near Chapman Sands. A fast launch took him to the pierhead

  • Six gang members found guilty of drug smuggling

    A GANG has been convicted of attempting to smuggle £4.5million worth of drugs into the country. The members were caught during an undercover operation by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency as they attempted to process nearly 1.5 tonnes of cannabis

  • Masterplan blow as flats scheme fails

    A LARGE-SCALE flats development designed as a key part of the Wickford Masterplan has been shelved indefinitely. The recession means developer Bradgate is no longer able to complete the second phase of its Riverside Place development, in Lower Southend

  • From brain surgery to boxing for bar boss

    A BAR manager who survived major surgery on a brain tumour has won a charity boxing match. Paul Hatton, 39, who runs late night bar the Ivory Rooms, in Laindon Road, Billericay, endured an eight-hour operation to remove a tumour the size of an egg two

  • Residents can say no to future strip clubs

    RESIDENTS are being given greater powers to challenge future planning applications for new strip clubs. Basildon Council is introducing new legislation allowing people to challenge the number and location of lap dancing clubs in their areas, which will

  • Francis honours at trust’s awards

    SIMON Francis completed a clean sweep of player of the year awards as he claimed both the Shrimpers Trust player of the year and Southend Junior Shrimper player of the year accolades. Having already won the main club award, the full-back was

  • Dogs’ mess is blighting area

    The dog mess which blights our parks, paths and grass verges in Castle Point is appalling and I hope the council follows Canvey’s lead and start tackling this problem. I regularly watch a dog owner allowing his two dogs off the lead in the small

  • Tour made me feel good

    What a great day remembering the late Dr Feelgood band member Lee Brilleaux’s birthday. I lived on Canvey for over 15 years and I have never walked so much or seen this much of the “sceptred isle”. Ending up in the Canvey Club was the highlight

  • It’s a shame council has banned beach donkeys

    What a shame Southend Council will not allow Jayne Johns to bring her donkeys on to Southend beach. I think they would be a huge attraction and give our children a taste of days gone by. Having donkeys myself, I know what beautiful serene animals

  • Hammers waiting on Olympic stadium bid

    WEST Ham United are “hopeful” of moving to the Olympic Stadium after the London 2012 Games. The eight-week deadline for would-be tenants of the £537million venue in Stratford, east London, to lodge expressions of interest to the Olympic Park Legacy

  • Grays’ league fate is still undecided

    THE thorny subject of where and at what level Grays Athletic will play their soccer next season is still far from clear. When the FA Leagues Committee announced its provisional line-ups for the 2010/11 campaign yesterday, the former New Rec side were

  • Why no cash for Laindon’s park?

    How is it Basildon Council can find £175,000 to spend on already overfunded Lake Meadows in Billericay, yet is unable to spend a single penny on the grossly under-funded Victoria Park in Laindon? In fact, the council even misappropriated the

  • Stringer off to Braintree

    AVELEY are seeking a new manager after Rod Stringer accepted the vacant position at Blue Square South club Braintree Town. Stringer joined the Millers in November 2007 when the club looked on course for relegation to the Essex Senior League and led

  • Interesting times ahead

    Since David Cameron’s modernising arrival on the Conservative scene he has been viewed by many on the right of the party as a cuckoo in the nest. I do believe they are now about to see just how many more of their cherished old ideas the new Prime

  • Island faced a catastrophe

    Shouldn’t alarm bells be ringing over the Calor Gas incident on Canvey? This “major hazards site” is granted permission to be self-regulating. But rather than practicing safe procedures, we discover not only is regular maintenance in the way

  • Is there a deal on night flights?

    I am pleased to read (May 10) Tory leader Nigel Holdcroft has said councillors will listen to residents’ concerns on Southend Airport expansion. I ask Mr Holdcroft to tell us in the Leigh and Belfairs areas, who are the residents most affected

  • School rules at both football and rugby

    THUNDERSLEY’S King John School have reigned supreme on the team front. On the soccer front, the Shipwrights Drive School competed over two days in the Castle Point and Rochford Cups at Canvey Island Football Club. They started by playing Deanes in the

  • Harris chases Lions final

    NEIL Harris wants to fire Millwall into the League One play-off final this evening. The Lions drew 0-0 at Huddersfield Town in the first leg of their semi-final on Saturday. And Eastwood-based Harris, who is the club’s record goalscorer, is now confident

  • Debut cup victory for Billericay

    BILLERICAY School are celebrating slam dunking success in basketball. The year seven boys beat St Martins 57-45 in the final to win the Essex Cup for the first time, while the year nine boys lost in the final to Shenfield 74-64. Five of the players

  • Disappointment at Banking on Essex’s lending

    ONLY ten businesses have benefited since the launch of the Bank of Essex last year. Essex County Council launched Banking on Essex in a blaze of publicity last April, and followed it with a promotional launch six months ago. A total

  • Disappointment at Banking on Essex’s lending

    ONLY ten businesses have benefited since the launch of the Bank of Essex last year. Essex County Council launched Banking on Essex in a blaze of publicity last April, and followed it with a promotional launch six months ago. A total of £50million

  • Woman chased and bitten by two rottweilers

    A MUM was chased and bitten by two rottweilers. Katie Kemp, 32, and her two-year-old son Freddy were about to take their four-month-old labrador puppy Ben for a walk in West Thurrock Memorial Ground when they spotted the two dogs and sensed danger.

  • Police offer £10,000 reward to help catch murder suspect

    POLICE have offered a £10,000 reward for the capture and prosecution of a man wanted in connection with a murder. British Somali Mohamed Faraj Ali, 18, may be hiding in Basildon. Mahmood Jama, 21, was shot in the chest at a block of flats in Forest

  • Essex cop quit over indecent online chats with teenager

    AN Essex policeman quit after having indecent chats online with a 13-year-old girl. Russell West, 26, who lives in Rochford, sent sexually explicit messages to the schoolgirl, the High Court heard. Temporary judge Michael O’Grady placed West on the

  • Where is £30,000 I’m owed for A130 land?

    FAMILIES who had part of their land bought by compulsory purchase orders to make way for the A130 are still waiting for thousands of pounds of compensation. The A130 dual carriageway, between the A127 and Chelmsford, was built in 2004 to relieve the