Archive

  • No let-up in fight against yob tenants

    A TOUGH-TALKING councillor has vowed there will be no let-up on yobbish council tenants who make their neighbours’ lives a misery. Phil Turner – known for his zero tolerance attitude on antisocial behaviour – made the comments after the council

  • I don’t want my kids playing in drug filth garden

    A DAD was furious when he arrived at his new council home with his children to find the garden full of drug addicts’ syringes. David Cortes, 37, said the alley next to the maisonette where he and his family are due to move next week was so notorious

  • Home destroyed after blaze breaks out

    A HOME was left destroyed after fire ripped through it. The blaze broke out at the home in Manners Way, Southend at around 2.15pm today. It began in the ground-floor of the property but it is still not known what caused it. Fire crews from

  • Fire crews tackle blaze at Pitsea tip

    A FIRE has broken out at Pitsea rubbish tip. The blaze started at around 3pm today. Two crews of firefighters from Corringham raced to the scene, where they remain putting out the fire. The fire crews are using specialist "spray plates" to

  • Disgust as axe looms for hot meals service

    AN OPPOSITION councillor has spoken of his disgust after it emerged hot meals at the borough’s day centres were set to be axed. Phil Rackley, leader of Basildon Council’s independent Labour group, said the authority had got its priorities wrong

  • £28k for council job to help out travellers

    A COUNCIL has been accused of abusing taxpayers’ money by recruiting a £28,000 officer to improve relations with travellers–nearly two years after the eviction at Dale Farm. Basildon Council wants to employ a community liaison officer to start

  • Benefit cheat to pay back £13k

    A FRAUDSTER who admitted fleecing more than £13,000 in benefits has avoided a jail term. Toni Craft, 35, failed to tell Basildon Council for three years that she was living with her partner, affecting her entitlement to housing and council tax

  • Man seriously hurt in nightspot brawl

    A MAN was left needing surgery on a broken jaw after he was attacked by an eight-strong gang at a nightspot. The victim, a 39-year-old man from Kent, had been enjoying at night out at the Circus Tavern on Arterial Road, Purfleet when the attack

  • See world yacht race start in Southend

    A PRESTIGIOUS round-the-world yacht race will officially start off the Southend coast on Monday. Some 270 crew members from the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race are already in London and will be involved in a procession down the Thames from St

  • Anger as fire chokes whole area

    FURIOUS residents have hit out after a green belt site in Benfleet was turned into a bonfire. Huge plumes of smoke wafted over homes after a fire was started in fields off Glebelands creating “stifling smog”. The fire was started after trees

  • Explore the old byeways of country park

    HISTORY fans in Castle Point will be able to go on the trail of the hidden heritage of Hadleigh Country Park. Visitors will be taken on a guided tour of the park, off Chapel Lane, with rangers giving a talk about how trees and the shape of the

  • All dogs should be on leads

    NEW rules could be brought in on Canvey seafront demanding all dogs stay on leads. Councillors claim new restrictions should be introduced along the island’s coastline requiring dogs to be kept on a lead during the summer months after complaints