WHEN Southend band Smother decided to call it a day, rock fans in the town were morose. But frontman Luke Branch has been working away on a new project for the past couple of years, and July will see Hoodlums release their first single Landmarks. Recording
WALKING into the newly-built orangery at the Anchor Riverside, in Hullbridge, you are met with gorgeous views of the River Crouch. The airy new addition to the pub has doors that fold right back, so you can watch the boats bob up and down on the water
BILLERICAY Boxing Club ended their season with 65 wins from 73 fights. In another outstanding campaign for the club, their youngsters suffered just eight defeats all year. The club’s latest bouts came when a team from Wales came over to challenge
AFTER 36 years, looking after 81 babies, a husband and wife foster care team said it has never been a chore to do their work. Maurice, 67, and Barbara Hobbs-Hurrell, 65, of Connaught Gardens, Shoebury, have just been made MBEs for their services to families
A BURGLAR who stole more than £20,000 of personal belongings has been jailed for four-and-a-half years despite a glowing character reference from his pastor. David Quinn, 46, of Chestnut Road, Vange, raided 15 homes in Basildon and Pitsea in the run-up
OVERFLOWING bins stacked high with the remnants of Christmas turkey and Easter Sunday roast are set to be a thing of the past as Castle Point Council unveiled new collection plans. Cancelled bin rounds during the festive season and Easter holidays have
POLICE have revealed they are not treating a death on the railway as suspicious. Disruption was caused to the National Express East Anglia line on Tuesday after a body was discovered on the track. Emergency services had to be called to the line between
INTERNATIONAL women’s cricket comes to Billericay tomorrow when Australia take on India. The match is part of the NatWest Women’s International T20 Series and takes place at Billericay Cricket Club’s Toby Howe Ground in Blunts Wall Road. Action
SAINSBURY’S wants to open a new store in a former car accessories shop in Westcliff. Supermarket bosses have applied to transform the former Kenlee Karstores in Hamlet Court Road into a convenience store. The chain is keen to sell alcohol there and
A MAN has been arrested on suspicion of drug dealing near a children's play area. Police were called by a concerned parent who believed they had seen a man drug dealing in Chalkwell Park at about 3pm on Monday. There were a number of
DINGHY racers dodged huge squalls on the estuary on Saturday as Leigh Sailing Club staged its GP14 dinghy open meeting. Nine of the two-man dinghies arrived at the club to be greeted by an incoming tide as slightly nervous crews prepared their craft,
A CRACKING 32lb male tope was the icing on the cake for Basildon angler Mick Toomer when he fished out from the River Crouch. Toomer and two friends made an early start to take the private boat to an offshore mark, arriving in time to catch the early
I was pleased to see Southend Council is to make new efforts to find a partner to operate the pier. Although past experience may not give much hope for optimism, there is a new opportunity to be considered this time round. The Big Society approach
The Echo wrote that the probation service “has lost track of offenders and officers admit they do not know where some of them are” (June 7). At a neighbourhood action panel meeting, and in response to questions from residents about how many
I believe Jim Worsdale’s article (My View, June 10) on Dr Aloke Basu was ill conceived. Stripped of its highly emotive padding, it appeared to advocate a person’s profession or social standing should be a mitigating factor in sentencing when
Havens Hospices do an excellent job. I worked for them for ten years. But I can understand worries about the site for a proposed hospice in Belton Way, Leigh. Why build on more green belt when at Daws Heath, where Little Havens is, there are
News that easyJet is to fly from Southend is brilliant and a coup for the airport. Now perhaps all those who said it would never happen will stay quiet and look forward to what can only be a tremendous boost for the town. All we need
I am responding to D Farrell’s rather venomous comments Lock Up Cyclists Who Ignore The Rules (Letters, June 14). I am both cyclist and motorist and most days I cycle in and around Southend. One reason for the conflict between the cyclist and
What further act of barbarism can the Echo report that will exceed the dastardly deed of attacking a dog and pouring acid into its eyes (Echo, June 10)? An unprovoked attack on a commuter by a gang of youths left the victim suffering brain damage
I wrote a few months ago asking why trains were stopping at Southend Airport station, running slow between Prittlewell and Rochford or standing at Rochford. I asked my question after reading a comment from a National Express East Anglia spokesman
I was at the meeting in the Towngate Theatre, Basildon, that discussed building 144 residential dwellings in Gloucester Park. It has been designed with no offer of affordable housing and therefore of no essential benefit to Basildon residents
NEW England one-day international captain Alastair Cook will have his Essex team-mate Ravi Bopara in his squad for his first match as skipper. Bopara, who was overlooked in favour of Eoin Morgan for the Test series against Sri Lanka, is included in both
CRAIG Easton remains in contract talks with Southend United. The Blues skipper is facing an uncertain future at Roots Hall after failing to so far agree a new deal. But, despite reports to the contrary emerging yesterday, the midfielder has not told
AVELEY have pulled off a coup by signing former Billericay captain Micah Hyde. The midfielder was Town’s players’ player of the year last season and led the team to their first major cup win in 35 years when they lifted the Essex Senior Cup. But the
POLICE are investigating a car-wrecking spree which hit five different streets. Vandals went on the rampage around Warrior Square, Southend, and the surrounding roads. At least five cars had wing mirrors and aerials ripped off in the early hours of
SOUTHEND United striker Barry Corr is out to prove he is not a one-season wonder. The targetman bagged a career-best 21 goals last term. And he is determined to do even better next time around. “It was pleasing to get that number of goals but next
IT was Southend revisited for Dot and Heather from EastEnders as they made a return to the seafront. Dot Branning, played by soap stalwart June Brown, and Heather Trott, played by Cheryl Fergison, were happy to pose as they returned to Southend
A KARATE group that has produced several world-class fighters is desperate for new equipment to help the club improve. Uechi-Ryu Karate Club boasts five members in the England team and one European medal winner. But its sparkling success
FIVE men showed some real community spirit when they dragged a huge fallen branch out of a busy road. Police closed Prittlewell Chase after wind and torrential rain sent a branch of the horse chestnut tree tumbling down on the dual carriageway
A SENIOR police officer has left Thurrock to take up a new role. Chief Insp Paul Moor will head up a specialist Automated Number Plate Recognition team at Essex Police’s Chelmsford headquarters. The equipment is used in static cameras and squad cars
A DEAL which has seen Basildon Council’s boss take flexible retirement is available for other staff. Bala Mahendran, the council’s chief executive, has announced he will go part-time and work just three days a week from 2013 in what the council calls
AN Echo investigation has revealed new details over the illegal dumping of rubbish at a farm in Basildon. Residents living near Claremont Farm in Burnt Mills Road, have claimed for months a large field behind their homes is being used for the
FIREFIGHTERS rescued residents and their pets from a high-rise block of flats after a blaze broke out. A fire caught hold of a flat in Longbow Flats, Sherwood Way, Southend, last night at about 10.30pm. The fire in the 13-storey block
In today's Echo: NEWS SPECIAL ON FBI RAID IN WICKFORD CABBIE FACING JAIL OVER LANDLORDS SCAM MAN DIES AFTER BEING PULLED FROM THE SEA AND, IT'S A WRAP FOR EASTENDERS IN SOUTHEND THERE
ELDERLY residents have insisted much-loved playing fields should never be built over because of a legal agreement dating back to the Fifties. Members of the Vange Community Group appealed last week for information on a covenant they believe was signed
FOUR men arrested on suspicion of murder have been released on bail. The men were arrested in the wake of Rayleigh man Reece Lamude dying in Southend town centre in the early hours of Sunday morning. The father-of-two died after trouble
