Archive
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Colchester: Furious parents unite to fight
Parents who claim their promised new school was snatched away through a costly blunder have formed their own residents' association. In February a school planned for Turner Rise, Colchester, was put in jeopardy after a £1.4 million oversight. A delay
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Clacton: £654,000 boost for school
Clacton's largest high school is preparing for a major expansion to take it into the new millennium. Colbayns High School is going ahead with a £654,000 project to build seven new classrooms, a new computer suite and refurbish other areas of the site.
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Tennis: Frinton miss out on national glory
Frinton's tennis stars will have to wait another year for the chance to become the English National Club League champions. The unlucky east Essex club missed out on the £5,500 top prize for the second year running when they went down 4-2 against powerful
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Braintree soldier's Macedonia mission
Braintree soldier Scott Adams has played a vital part in the mission to set up a refugee camp in Macedonia. With other soldiers Scott, 20, a Royal Engineer Sapper, worked round the clock to help build a tented city for 30,000 displaced people within just
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Southend: Hindus can use old Army centre
An old army careers centre has won the go-ahead to be turned into a Hindu community centre in Southend. The scheme for the army complex on East Street, Southend, won unanimous support from councillors on the development control sub-committee. Six letters
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Southend: Heartless thieves steal from graves
Youths accused of stealing tributes from graves at a Southend cemetery have been branded "sick" by police officers. Detectives at Southend hit out after they recovered a stolen haul of teddy bears, crucifixes and other tributes left by grieving friends
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Soccer: Junior league send out SOS
The Southend Junior League have come to the end of another hugely successful season with a stark warning about next term from top official Yvonne Haycock. The curtain came down on the 1998-99 campaign with last week's cup final day at Roots Hall. However
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Cricket: Laying down the Law
Essex's Stuart Law, who scored two magnificent centuries in last week's PPP Healthcare Championship match against Yorkshire at Chelmsford, has said that the county must start winning matches soon, if they are not to become among this season's also-rans
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Basildon: Just the job to be a party girl
JANE O'CONNELL meets Amanda Lewsey who is responsible for both Basildon's anniversary and millennium celebrations Basildon has come a long way since the bulldozers moved in on scrubland and rural slum to provide mass-market housing for more than 100,000
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Braintree soldier's Macedonia mission
Braintree soldier Scott Adams has played a vital part in the mission to set up a refugee camp in Macedonia. With other soldiers Scott, 20, a Royal Engineer Sapper, worked round the clock to help build a tented city for 30,000 displaced people within just
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Cruise drama escape for Maldon couple
A couple escaped from a sinking cruise liner in Malaysia -- by clambering into a leaking lifeboat. Pat and Geoffrey Clark, of Washington Road, Maldon, were enjoying a pre-retirement cruise on the Sun Vista cruise ship, off the Malaysian coast, when disaster
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Brightlingsea: Pensioner's flare scare
An elderly woman had a narrow escape when a marine flare blasted through her window. The 12-inch long missile, let off close to her Brightlingsea home, landed under a bed and filled the room with dense, grey smoke. Fortunately, 84-year-old Lilian Cook
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Southend: Heartless thieves steal from graves
Youths accused of stealing tributes from graves at a Southend cemetery have been branded "sick" by police officers. Detectives at Southend hit out after they recovered a stolen haul of teddy bears, crucifixes and other tributes left by grieving friends
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WW2 bomber in Southend air drama
A Second World War bomber was today due to fly home after being grounded by engine failure during the Southend Airshow. The Lancaster bomber, which thrilled crowds on Sunday, was unable to give a repeat performance yesterday because of the mechanical
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Castle Point: Chunnel riots terrify holiday families
Shocked holidaymakers today relived the nightmare of being caught up in a violent blockade at the Eurotunnel entrance in France. Angry demonstrators terrorised a coach heading back to Castle Point after a weekend visiting the borough's twin town of Romainville
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Rayleigh: We'll tell your parents, police warn teen gangs
Nuisance youths are being threatened with the ultimate deterrent - their parents. Crowds of teenagers who gather in the Rayleigh district over the summer holidays could be reported to their mums and dads, police warned today. The pioneering scheme to
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Golf: New owners for Colchester club
An idea which developed from a golf lesson just over a year ago has culminated in the takeover of the Colchester and Lexden Golf Centre. The new owners of the Spring Lane facility are Dean and Alison Nevill of Nevill Developments who, along with director
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Archery: Best archers flock to Colchester
More than 200 archers were in action at Colchester over the weekend, shooting for places in the English squad for the European Nations' Tournament to be held in Nottingham in two weeks' time. Archers including national champions and Olympic squad members
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Tennis: Frinton miss out on national glory
Frinton's tennis stars will have to wait another year for the chance to become the English National Club League champions. The unlucky east Essex club missed out on the £5,500 top prize for the second year running when they went down 4-2 against powerful
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Running: Peter's 100th marathon
A dedicated member of Witham Running Club has passed a real milestone - the completion of his 100th marathon. Peter Burns who ran his first marathon just eight years ago, crossed his 100th finishing line at the recent 26-mile Halstead marathon, after
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Soccer: Charity day at Witham
Up to 40 teams are expected at a charity five-a-side football tournament in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and the Meningitis Trust this Sunday. Organiser Adrian Yardley, of Witham, is hoping that his fund-raising this year brings in more
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Colchester: Non-urgent ops cancelled
Twenty non-urgent operations have been cancelled at Colchester General Hospital in the last seven weeks. Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust, which runs the hospital, said this was due to emergency cases needing beds or treatment space. The spokesman said that
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Witham: Air rage man gets three years
A drunken passenger who went berserk on a packed jumbo jet after being ticked off for watching porn on a laptop computer has been jailed for three years for what was described as the "worst-ever case of air rage". Plumber Ian Bottomley, 36, of Larch Grove
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Witham: Lorry ban 'could create rat runs'
Campaigners fear a lorry ban in parts of Witham could lead to HGV "rat runs" through the town. Moves to outlaw lorries from the town centre have received backing from the Witham and Countryside Society - but there are fears weight limits on Bridge Street
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Essex refinery on green group's list
An Essex oil refinery has been named as one the main culprits for releasing cancer-causing chemicals into the air. Carless, in Parkeston near Harwich, is numbered 25 in the national list of the 100 most polluting factories compiled by the Friends of the
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Bowls: Rochford's winning streak
Rochford Bowls Club have enjoyed a good sequence of matches, starting with a victory over Southminster. Eric Overell, Mike Spackman, Brian Neville and club captain Jeff Jeffrey beat Southminster's men by 81 shots to 78. With Rochford's ladies also scoring
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Soccer: Boro join chase for Town star Dyer
Middlesborough are to battle it out with Leeds United for Ipswich star Kieron Dyer. Leeds boss David O'Leary is offering £5 million for the England under-21 international but Town are looking for somewhere nearer £7 million. ow Boro boss Bryan Robson
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Cricket: Superb Nasser puts cup woe behind him
Nasser Hussain made a triumphant return at Edgbaston as Essex thrashed Warwickshire by 129 runs to record their first National League success of the summer. If he was devastated by England's elimination from the World Cup 24 hours earlier, he did not
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Colchester couple aim for triathlon glory
Anne Crawshaw and Graham Sheward are a couple with a difference - in their 60s but still aiming to qualify for the British triathlon team. Often found pounding the streets or swimming in the sea off Mersea, the duo go to Bournemouth this weekend aiming
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Women's boxing: Shanee set for States show
Female boxer Shanee Martin has been handed a dream chance to fight in America. The 17-year-old Colchester student answered an advert on the internet inviting applications to compete in a women's invitational tournament. But she will only be allowed to
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Diving: Karen's diving's really thriving!
Southend's Olympic hopeful Karen Smith carved herself a slice of success when she competed in Grand Prix events in Canada and Mexico. The 23-year-old made the finals of the South American event and achieved personal bests in both countries. The World
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Cricket: Braintree cruise to easy win
Braintree maintained their 100 per cent winning record on Sunday when they comfortably beat Brightlingsea by eight wickets with 10 overs to spare. After being put in to bat, Brightlingsea lost two early wickets to the bowling of Dave Hale to leave themselves
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Athletics: Mixed fortunes for Sarah
Great Britain international Sarah Claxton suffered a rare defeat in the long jump during the Inter Counties Championships at Bedford. But the Colchester athlete had already secured victory for Essex in the 100m hurdles. Claxton was beaten into second
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Rochford Festival of Sport go-ahead
Plans for this year's Rochford Festival of Sport, from July 13-17, are well underway. The 16 sports will include archery, badminton, tennis, darts, netball, pool, snooker, swimming, target golf, gymnastics, basketball, cricket, and soccer. There will
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Cricket round-up: Smith's 50 in vain for Wickford
A half-century from 16-year-old Darren Smith failed to save Wickford seconds from a heavy home defeat. Wickford off-spinner Paul Davies, who took 4-81 in his 19 overs, had earlier toiled in vain to contain an Ardleigh side who rattled up 273-6. J Thornton
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New lifeboat station boost for Southend pier
A new Southend lifeboat station is a step closer to being built after councillors backed plans to revamp the RNLI's base on the pier. Town planners said the scheme was good news for the town and lifeboat workers were delighted with the approval. Southend
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Rochford: Applicants face lengthy waits
Rochford District Council has one of the very worst records in the country for deciding on planning applications on time, it has been revealed. A Government survey has shown that during 1998, the council managed to decide only 38 per cent of applications
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Cruise drama escape for Maldon couple
A couple escaped from a sinking cruise liner in Malaysia -- by clambering into a leaking lifeboat. Pat and Geoffrey Clark, of Washington Road, Maldon, were enjoying a pre-retirement cruise on the Sun Vista cruise ship, off the Malaysian coast, when disaster
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Clacton: Man, 66, in thug attack
A pensioner was today recovering in hospital after being beaten unconscious in Clacton town centre in a brutal attack. The 66-year-old, who has not been named, had serious head and facial injuries when he was discovered in Wellesley Road just after 11pm
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Archery: Best archers flock to Colchester
More than 200 archers were in action at Colchester over the weekend, shooting for places in the English squad for the European Nations' Tournament to be held in Nottingham in two weeks' time. Archers including national champions and Olympic squad members
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Southend: Daring flats plan backed
A radical bid to demolish a post-war house and replace it with a modern block of seafront flats has won the backing of Southend councillors. The daring application from developers Civicgreen would scrap an impressive 1948 building on The Leas, in the
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Great Bentley: Parents demand school resignations
Angry parents have called for the resignation of the headteacher and governors at a village primary school after it was heavily criticised by Government inspectors. A vote of no confidence in Great Bentley School head Yvonne Potter and the board of governors
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Brightlingsea: Pensioner's flare scare
An elderly woman had a narrow escape when a marine flare blasted through her window. The 12-inch long missile, let off close to her Brightlingsea home, landed under a bed and filled the room with dense, grey smoke. Fortunately, 84-year-old Lilian Cook
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Rivals poised to snap up Paxman's
Colchester firm Paxman Diesels could be swallowed up by a rival company. Bosses at Alstom, parent company of the Hythe Hill firm, quickly insisted the planned sell-off -revealed by This Is Essex on Thursday -would help ensure the long-term security of
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Chelmsford: Rat disease victims fight for life
A 50-year-old Springfield man fought for his life for a second time after contracting a killer disease spread by rats It happened while he was rescuing his pet dog from a mountain stream in Yorkshire. Former driving instructor Michael Haley, who underwent
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Chelmsford: Rat disease victims fight for life
A 50-year-old Springfield man fought for his life for a second time after contracting a killer disease spread by rats It happened while he was rescuing his pet dog from a mountain stream in Yorkshire. Former driving instructor Michael Haley, who underwent
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Witham: Stolen medication warning
Police are searching for thieves who stole potentially dangerous medication. The drugs were taken between 2pm and 5pm yesterday from Wulvesford in Witham. Three men were arrested but were released without charge. A police spokesman said: "The medication
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Southend: Sheila's salsa surprise
Artist Sheila Appleton is adding the finishing touches to an 11ft tall acrylic painting which will is bound to catch the eyes of Southend's throng of day trippers. The lively backdrop of Latin American dancers will be hung at Club Riveria near the Kursaal
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Boxing: Loss leaves Callaghan fuming
Barking featherweight Marc P. Callaghan was an angry young man following his first professional defeat. Callaghan, who has quickly earned a reputation as one of the finest young boxers in Barry Hearn's Matchroom stable, was fighting Simon Chambers at
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BMX Racing: Mixed fortunes in Ipswich
Ipswich was the venue for round three in the BMX Regional Summer Series and six of the Braintree BMX Club riders took part. First out was Matthew Sewell, 6, who started off impressively with a third place in the first moto but he was only able to take
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Athletics: Somma shines to win glorious double
Southend High School's Somma Power was jumping for joy after a win double in the Eastern Young Athletes League meeting. Competing for Basildon on their home Gloucester Park track, Somma won both the long jump (4.91m) and shot putt ((9.45m) in the under
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Basildon: CCTV blinded by lightning
Basildon's CCTV cameras are back on line - a month after they were knocked out by a freak thunderstorm. Thirteen cameras were struck down by lightning in April. The bolt from the blue left the town centre, St Martin's Square and Gloucester Park without
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Southend: Probe into police's death investigation
A family's three-year fight for justice over the death of van driver Jamie Collins outside a Southend nightspot is now in the hands of a top London police officer. A City of London superintendent will carry out a review of the case after the family accused
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New lifeboat station boost for Southend pier
A new Southend lifeboat station is a step closer to being built after councillors backed plans to revamp the RNLI's base on the pier. Town planners said the scheme was good news for the town and lifeboat workers were delighted with the approval. Southend
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Southend: Probe into police's death investigation
A family's three-year fight for justice over the death of van driver Jamie Collins outside a Southend nightspot is now in the hands of a top London police officer. A City of London superintendent will carry out a review of the case after the family accused
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Colchester: Non-urgent ops cancelled
Twenty non-urgent operations have been cancelled at Colchester General Hospital in the last seven weeks. Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust, which runs the hospital, said this was due to emergency cases needing beds or treatment space. The spokesman said that
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Basildon: High profile policing to calm crime estate
A unique partnership plan to tackle the high crime rate on a Basildon estate will see dedicated bobbies patrolling the streets. Under the new guidelines, worried tenants on Felmores in Pitsea will also be able to dial a special police hotline to report
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Wickford: We want a school!
Parents today vowed to fight for a new junior school in Wickford for the sake of their children's education. Mums said they were determined to persuade the education authority to turn Wickford C of E Infants into a junior school as well and presented
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Athletics: Masons high mileage training paid dividends
The Springfield Striders trail runners were out in force at Great Blakenham last Sunday, where the course passed through two vast country estates and farmland to the north west of Ipswich. Andrew Mason's high mileage training paid dividends as he finished
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Lawford: Our air rage terror
A mother has told of her terrifying ordeal when she and her family were caught up in the "worst ever case of air rage". Jane Roberts had been visiting her husband Andrew's family in South Africa with their two children Alex, 11, and Alicia, nine. They
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Harwich: Arson suspected as empty house gutted
An unoccupied house has been gutted by fire in a suspected arson attack a week after its sale had been agreed. Firefighters were called to the house in Albermarle Street, Harwich, shortly before 9pm last night. Three crews took almost an hour to bring
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Southend: High-flyer Matt drops in on home territory
Basildon-born Matt Martin was one of the star attractions at the Southend Airshow as he hurtled towards the beach at 120mph. Matt and the rest of the RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team helped round off the two-day spectacular, which drew thousands of
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Witham: Air rage man gets three years
A drunken passenger who went berserk on a packed jumbo jet after being ticked off for watching porn on a laptop computer has been jailed for three years for what was described as the "worst-ever case of air rage". Plumber Ian Bottomley, 36, of Larch Grove
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Braintree: Council's safe eating plea
Eat safe this summer. That is the message from Braintree District Council staff who are hosting a series of events as part of National Food Safety Week, which starts on Monday. A district council environmental health spokeswoman explained that last year
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Chelsea gold for Maldon
Maldon Flower Arrangement Club has scooped a gold medal at Chelsea Flower Show. The club was one of three exhibitors for the Eastern Region in the National Association of Flower Arranging Society's marquee. The competition was entitled specialist societies
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Tweet dreams in Billericay library
There was tweeting among the text when Billericay library played host to some very special young visitors of the cute and cuddly variety. The High Street library has featured its own farmyard for the last two weeks, and real baby chicks were brought in
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Soccer: Southend's £250,000 youth boost
Southend United's future on the pitch looks to be in safe hands thanks to a £276,000 cash injection from the English Sports Council for youth development at Roots Hall. The Third Division club will now use the grant to restructure their youth programme
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Golf round-up: Georgia is the aim
Sixty young hopeful golfers from 26 golf clubs in Essex will be competing for a place in the Championship Final to be held in Georgia, USA, when they tee off at Braintree Golf Club tomorrow. Braintree Golf Club have decided to combine their Annual Junior
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Cricket: County backs structure revamp
Essex has welcomed the prospect of more changes to the structure of county cricket. Only months after the popular Benson and Hedges Cup competition was thrown on to the scrap-heap, Essex are among a number of counties currently rallying to reinstate the
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Soccer: Launders breezes into Layer Road
New signing Brian Launders breezed into Layer Road determined to make a name for himself with Colchester United. The former Republic of Ireland under-21 and youth international attacking midfielder has been on the brink of a major breakthrough since moving
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Running: Peter's 100th marathon
A dedicated member of Witham Running Club has passed a real milestone - the completion of his 100th marathon. Peter Burns who ran his first marathon just eight years ago, crossed his 100th finishing line at the recent 26-mile Halstead marathon, after
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Cricket: Maldon clinch sponsorship deal
Maldon Cricket Club have announced a sponsorship agreement with Nat West Bank. This exciting local partnership came about as the Cricket World Cup gets into full swing and is evidence of how Nat West support the game both nationally and at grass roots
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Soccer: Ex-Colchester keeper joins Premiership elite
Goalkeeper Alec Chamberlain will be playing Premiership football for Watford next season. But there were mixed fortunes for the other former Colchester United and Ipswich Town stars who were playing in the Bank Holiday, Wembley promotion play-off finals
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Table tennis: Super seven make finals
Seven Basildon players - including two gold medallists - exploited home town advantage to reach the national finals of the disabled table tennis championships. John Seatter and Betty Jeffery clinched Eastern area singles titles at the regional finals,
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School sports: Star help comes to Appleton
That's the way to do it! Former Olympic ace Fatima Whitbread demonstrates to young Sebastian Thurlow how to throw the javelin. The 11-year-old pupil from Appleton School, Thundersley, was one of the lucky local youngsters to get some personal athletics
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Southend: Green light for healthy living centre
A scheme to improve the quality of life for residents in Southend has been given the thumbs up. The St Luke's healthy living centre - officially launched on May 8 - has finally gained planning permission to make use of a shop unit in Cluny Square. The
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Rochford: Applicants face lengthy waits
Rochford District Council has one of the very worst records in the country for deciding on planning applications on time, it has been revealed. A Government survey has shown that during 1998, the council managed to decide only 38 per cent of applications
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Witham: Stolen medication warning
Police are searching for thieves who stole potentially dangerous medication. The drugs were taken between 2pm and 5pm yesterday from Wulvesford in Witham. Three men were arrested but were released without charge. A police spokesman said: "The medication
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Southend: Sheila's salsa surprise
Artist Sheila Appleton is adding the finishing touches to an 11ft tall acrylic painting which will is bound to catch the eyes of Southend's throng of day trippers. The lively backdrop of Latin American dancers will be hung at Club Riveria near the Kursaal
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Date
Southend: Hindus can use old Army centre
An old army careers centre has won the go-ahead to be turned into a Hindu community centre in Southend. The scheme for the army complex on East Street, Southend, won unanimous support from councillors on the development control sub-committee. Six letters
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Southend: Green light for healthy living centre
A scheme to improve the quality of life for residents in Southend has been given the thumbs up. The St Luke's healthy living centre - officially launched on May 8 - has finally gained planning permission to make use of a shop unit in Cluny Square. The
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Leigh: Paul's disco decor ideas
A homeowner's musical tastes should not only be reflected in their CD collection but also in the decoration of their front door. That is according to glitzy art student Paul Range-Dye of Leigh. As part of his final major project for his degree course,
