Archive
-
Date
Southend: Crash sparks power cut
Power was lost to more than 60 homes after a Ford Escort XR3i crashed into an electricity junction box in Southend. The car crashed on Eastern Esplanade at the junction with Lifstan Way at about 2am on Saturday. Police said there were between four and
-
Date
Colchester: Student success praised
Colchester Sixth Form College had plenty to celebrate at its awards evening. While outstanding success in examinations was justly praised, there were many other achievements marked in the Charter Hall. Speaking to more than 550 parents and students, Principal
-
Date
Witham: Big crackdown on under-age drinking
Police have launched a Christmas crackdown on adults selling alcohol to youngsters in a bid to cut under-age drinking. Witham Police will be targeting suppliers throughout the festive season and will be starting an initiative in the New Year in the battle
-
Date
Halstead: Workman injured after falling off roof
A workman is recovering after falling 15 feet from a roof. The 35-year-old BSkyB employee was installing a satellite dish when he fell off a ladder in Blamsters Crescent, Halstead. The man crashed through a conservatory window before landing on a concrete
-
Date
Essex Police hit back
Essex Police yesterday hit back after being criticised for its lack of officers. A national paper revealed there were only 38 officers on duty last Wednesday night in Clacton - and the figure was just 28 after midnight. It said the Tendring area, with
-
Date
Cross country: Kings bear trophies and travel a-fast!
Twins Dominic and Daniel King returned with a clutch of trophies from the first Essex League cross country race of the new season. The racewalking brothers from Great Horkesley have made quite an impact competing for Colchester Harriers. Dominic King
-
Date
Maldon: £130,000 church makeover
Plans for a £130,000 makeover at a Maldon church have been unveiled. The scheme involves a major refurbishment inside the United Reformed Church, on Market Hill, to help bring it into the new millennium. Now that English Heritage has given permission
-
Date
Colchester: The end of a festive tradition?
A Christmas tradition stretching back 44 years looks set to come to a close - because it is out of date. The annual festive lunch for pensioners in Colchester - organised by the Palmer Brothers Trust - will not take place this year. And a question mark
-
Date
Colchester: Doorman saves man from river
A nightclub doorman rescued a mystery party-goer from a freezing river. Joe Brewster risked his life to save the man from the River Colne in Colchester Mr Brewster was working on the door of the Ghost nightclub in East Street when a friend of the man
-
Date
Feering: Road crash victim's body exhumed
The body of a man who died in a road crash in Spain has been exhumed from a north Essex cemetery. Roger Nicholls, 44, of Mucking Ford Road, West Tilbury, was killed in a crash near Alicante in August 1998 and was buried in Feering Cemetery, near where
-
Date
Coggeshall: Fire blow for new business
Two devastated businessmen have been left out in the cold after fire tore through their brand new office in a former chapel in Coggeshall. Firefighters from Braintree and Coggeshall were called to the former Baptist Chapel in Church Street, Coggeshall
-
Date
Canewdon: Boy trapped on the stairs
Little Theo Gliddon will think twice the next time he goes experimenting. That's because when he wanted to find out what it would be like to stick his head through the bannisters on his stairs, he ended up staying there for half an hour. It was only with
-
Date
Chelmsford: Duke's party shock
Partygoers set for a big night out at Duke's nightclub have been left dressed up with nowhere to go as its millennium bash has been cancelled. What promised to be one of the best New Year's Eve parties has been called off. The Chelmsford nightclub decided
-
Date
Eastwood: MP demands probe into tragic death
An investigation into how a pensioner died in a freezing council flat in Eastwood is still unfinished more than a year after he died. Now Southend West MP David Amess has urged council bosses to urgently publish their findings into whether they could
-
Date
Castle Point: Bob fights for pounds
Former Castle Point MP Bob Spink today threw his weight behind a campaign to save pounds and ounces. A European regulation, which will come into force on January 1, will make it illegal to sell goods by imperial weight. Instead, shoppers will have to
-
Date
Finchingfield: Werewolf woman's £1m bid
A woman stands to gain £1 million tomorrow - if she turns into a werewolf! Wacky insurance wizz-kid Simon Burgess, from Finchingfield, has insured the 34-year-old mum against turning into one of the hairy monsters. Bridgette McFarlane is terrified that
-
Date
Colchester: Crash brings rush-hour chaos
A crash between a motorbike and two vans left a man with serious head injuries and blocked a major road for more than two hours. A passing doctor attended to the 23-year-old motorcyclist before he was taken to Colchester General Hospital for treatment
-
Date
Soccer: Wright returns to Chelmsford
Major boardroom changes at Chelmsford City Football Club have seen the return of former chairman Trevor Wright. Among the five departures last week were the club's former director of football, Brian Honeywood. The changes, which will see a slimmed down
-
Date
Colchester: Breast scanner target boost
Fundraisers are celebrating getting almost half-way to their target for a hospital breast scanner - just a month after launching the appeal. A minimum of £70,000 is needed to buy the state-of-the-art machine for Essex County Hospital in Colchester, and
-
Date
Chelmsford: Police on New Year standby
Police stations across the Chelmsford division will be open for business at the turn of the millennium in case of a major systems failure. Doors will be open between 11pm and 12.30am on New Year's Eve at the stations in Maldon, Moulsham, Melbourne, Southminster
-
Date
Runwell, Dagenham: Defendant's heart attack
A man accused of planning to sell half a tonne of cannabis and 100,000 Ecstasy tablets had two heart attacks within days of his arrest, a court was told. Robert Turner, 53, of Dagenham, was arrested and charged with possession with intent to supply cannabis
-
Date
Basildon: Hospital to get scanner
A new state-of-the-art scanner which can alter images of the body is on its way to Basildon Hospital, it was today revealed. The hi-tech machine will cost £440,000 to buy and install. Its arrival comes hot on the heels of an announcement that a £1 million
-
Date
Soccer: Essex Senior Cup preview
Three Essex Senior Cup fourth round ties highlight the local soccer scene this evening. Schweppes Essex Senior League Southend Manor host Ryman Premier side Purfleet at Southchurch Park (7.45pm) in what promises to be the most entertaining tie of the
-
Date
Colchester, Brightlingsea: Manager stole from surgery
A doctor's surgery manager has been jailed for two years after stealing more than £180,000 from her employers at a Colchester practice. Belinda Harrison, 35, wrote out cheques to herself and her partner for thousands of pounds before bosses at the Parson's
-
Date
Witham: Cash tonic means festival go-ahead
A week-long millennium festival for more than 1,000 people is set to go ahead thanks to a cash boost of £6,000. Businesses, councils and community groups have given the cash for the Witham Millenniun Festival to be held in June. Organisers from the Witham
-
Date
Lawford: Threatened care home 'needed by community'
Assurances have been given that there is a need for a threatened old people's home in north Essex. But Essex County Council's social services chairman Pat Pascoe has written to Lawford Parish Council warning the running costs of Foundry Court must be
-
Date
Lawford: Something blue...teacher's getting married!
An intimate wedding it was not going to be - not with 75 pupils from the bride's school there. The youngsters from Highfields Primary School in Lawford were present to see teacher Sally Edwards, 27, marry Marcus Allston, 28. The children, many of whom
-
Date
Colchester: Robbers tie up man in home
Robbers tied up and assaulted a man in his home. The man returned to his flat in East Hill, Colchester, at 1am on Sunday. He expected friends to follow on and left his front door unlocked for them to get in later. But then he looked outside and noticed
-
Date
Witham: Widow, 87, mugged by boys
Callous teenage bag-snatchers punched and pushed an 87-year-old widow to the ground before taking pension money saved for Christmas presents. Pensioner Lena Bellew, of Chelmer Road, Witham, was walking home on the town's River Walk after a Christmas shopping
-
Date
Thundersley: Protesters badger Virgin over sett destruction
Emotions ran high as protesters fighting plans for a controversial new leisure centre in Thundersley clashed with supporters. Demonstrators were at the site in Rayleigh Road to protest against action by Virgin Active to destroy three badger setts on the
-
Date
Maldon: Space-age cinema plan
This is the futuristIc vision offered by a renowned industrial designer for a new town centre cinema for Maldon. David Harman Powell, a lecturer at the Royal College of Art, responded to an invitation by town centre menager Marion Wells to design a cinema
-
Date
Runwell: Playgroup is reprieved
A Runwell playgroup has been saved from closure after councillors backed relocation plans despite a storm of protest. Peter Pans Pre-School Playgroup, in Church End Lane, had feared it would have to wind up if its plans for a temporary classroom were
-
Date
Southend: Duck - it's freezing!
Animal rights protesters demonstrated against the sale and production of duck meat outside a Southend supermarket. A dozen members of campaign group VIVA held placards and handed out leaflets outside the Sainsbury's supermarket in London Road. They also
-
Date
Esther to join goalpost fight
The goalpost campaign run by This Is Essex partner paper the Evening Gazette might be featured on television after veteran presenter Esther Rantzen pledged to take up our fight for new safety measures. Miss Rantzen says she has been "appalled" by recent
-
Date
Thundersley: Jack's off to see Santa at last
Tears were turning to smiles today for a sick boy who attends a south Essex hospice. Jack Pitcher, six, was among 40 ill youngsters who were off to see Father Christmas in his native country - Lapland. The trip comes three days after it was actually meant
-
Date
Boxing: Southend fighters bow out
Southend boxers Ollie Pinnock and John Cullinane both crashed out of the Great Britain Novice Championships quarter final after putting up a good fight. The pair were representing the Eastern Counties and were taking on boxers from the London area ABA
-
Date
Marks Tey: Five taken to hospital after A120 smash
Two children and three adults were taken to hospital after a two-vehicle smash on the A120. Nora Nunn, 68, of Elsenham, near Stansted, had a head injury and was cut free from the wreckage of her Citroen ZX by firefighters. Her passenger David Nunn, 70
-
Date
Basildon: Burned out of home for Christmas
Five young children and their parents have been made homeless just days before Christmas by a blaze at their Basildon home. Firefighters were forced to use breathing equipment as they battled to bring the fire, at Malyons, Pitsea, under control. The blaze
-
Date
Colchester: Mercury play wins accolade
Colchester's Mercury Theatre company has been celebrating after its production of Uncle Vanya was named one of the top shows of the year in a national newspaper. The theatre formed its own company earlier this year and has since received praise from both
-
Date
Colchester: Dream trip to see Santa back on track
A cancelled dream trip for children to see Father Christmas in Lapland has been saved. The youngsters, many of them terminally ill, were waiting at Stansted Airport on Saturday when the bad news was broken to them. But now, thanks to a Colchester travel
-
Date
Soccer: Burley sets points target
Ipswich boss George Burley has set an 84-point target for promotion. Town, who extended their unbeaten league run to eight games when they entertained West Brom at Portman Road on Saturday, have reached the halfway point in their season. The win against
-
Date
Maldon: Quayside plan welcomed
A major development at Maldon's quayside could see burnt-out workshops replaced by a mix of residential and commerical development. And the proposal, which has to go before planners for approval, has been enthusiastically welcomed by three businesses
-
Date
Colchester: Brother's licence used to steal car
A banned driver used his brother's licence to hire a £20,000 car and then kept the vehicle until he was caught two months later. Stephen Meyer put 2,500 miles on the clock of the Ford Scorpio before police stopped him in Colchester, a court heard yesterday
-
Date
Soccer: Southend District League round-up
Armada Sports are sailing into calmer waters as 1999 draws to a close. For they climbed off the bottom of the table after notching their first Bukta Southend District League Premier Division win when they triumphed 3-1 over Parma Sports thanks to goals
-
Date
Soccer: Whitton bid to keep duo
Colchester United stars Gavin Johnson and Alan White could be on target for a big future at Layer Road. And there is more good news involving goalkeeper Simon Brown. U's boss Steve Whitton revealed today he is working hard behind the scenes to "sign"
-
Date
Cricket: Essex man top of the pitches class
Essex County Cricket Club's head groundsman Stuart Kerrison and his staff proved a big hit when the 18 first-class counties recently held a forum to discuss pitches. Chelmsford was one of five grounds which, according to umpires, had the best pitches
-
Date
Soccer: Adams leaves Southend
Southend United have finally parted company with their former chief executive John Adams, who had a 15-year association with the club. The Yorkshireman, who had spent a decade-and-a-half at Roots Hall and was still a director of the Third Division club
-
Date
Tendring: Magistrates mourn bench
Magistrates from all over Tendring staged a wake to mourn the passing of the Tendring bench. On December 31 the bench will cease to exist and serving magistrates will become part of a centralised North East Essex Court - sitting in Harwich and Colchester
-
Date
Little Oakley: Scout group votes to keep girls out
A male-only bastion has voted to keep its doors barred to girls. Little Oakley Scouts, Cubs and Beavers held a vote on whether to allow a female side to their organisation but after a hard fought campaign the votes are in - and girls are to be kept out
