Archive
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Parkeston: Julie's pedal power raises cash
A woman has pedalled for pounds to help a vandal-struck church. Julie McNair said she was shocked when St Paul's Church in Parkeston was attacked by people throwing stones. Vandals have smashed special decorative windows at the church on several occasions
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Rail rise anger
THURROCK'S commuters will be the hardest hit in the country when new train fares are introduced next month, according to one user group. Thurrock Rail Users' Group (TRUG) have said that the increase in fares for the borough's residents far exceeds the
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Basildon: Scheme to combat domestic violence in memory of murdered Jill
The elder brother of murdered mother-of-four Jill Bluestone has opened his heart about how he still thinks of his "baby sister" every day. Peter Skerry, 37, made a special trip from Middlesborough to be at the launch of Basildon council's Employee Domestic
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Basildon: Bid to get cash for sports centre
Basildon must develop a sporting centre for south Essex irrespective of London securing the 2012 Olympic Games, according to the council chief spearheading the project. Basildon Council's Tory cabinet member for leisure and open spaces, councillor Tony
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Essex: It's make or break for training centre
Dog lover Avril Munson fears her life could be left in tatters if council bosses crush her business dreams on Monday. Ms Munson is embroiled in a bitter row with residents and councillors over plans to convert stables and a garage at Great Easton into
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Colchester: Dentist performs mammoth 'tusk'
An unusual tusk was performed at Colchester Zoo when Tembo the elephant had some special dental work done. The bull elephant had snapped a section from one of his tusks and a specialist dentist was called in to seal up the break. Vet John Lewis anaesthetised
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Braintree: Club opens up to women members
After more than 100 years of male-only rule, a Braintree club has welcomed its first female full members. Braintree and Bocking Constitutional Club has been in operation since 1891 in a building known as The Great House, a 17th century grade two listed
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Colchester: Crash car lands on roof
A driver was taken to hospital after his car flipped over, landing on its roof. Wreckage - the overturned car in Southway, Colchester. Picture: ADRIAN RUSHTON (40005-2) The man's Toyota MR2 left the road and hit a wall dividing the two carriageways of
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Benfleet: Brain-damaged man jailed
A drink driver left brain damaged after a road smash was starting a three-month jail sentence today. Anthony Butcher, formerly of Eastern Esplanade, Canvey, appeared at Basildon Crown Court yesterday to appeal against the three-month term imposed by Southend
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Grays: Man threatens to blow up house
A Grays man threatened to blow up his house rather than let bailiffs repossess it during a three-hour siege on Friday. The man - thought to be in his late 50s - used bottled gas and homemade petrol bombs to deter the repossession team who arrived at his
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South Essex: New homes plan dealt a blow
A controversial plan to build 500,000 new homes in the east of England over the next 20 years has been dealt a blow. The East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) has withdrawn its support for the scheme which would see an extra 123,400 homes created in
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Braintree: Driver dies in crash
A driver has died after his car overturned in Braintree after hitting a central reservation. The Renault Clio driver, 21, of Braintree, was travelling along Millennium Way from the B & Q roundabout towards the Wyevale roundabout when the car hit the
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Athletics: Race ace Adam ready for GB debut
Southend's super sports star Adam Hickey faces the biggest test yet of his exciting young athletics career this weekend when he makes his Great Britain debut. Although only 16 years old, Southend High School boy Adam is part of the team contesting the
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Southend: Man taken to hospital after crash
A man had to be taken to hospital after a vehicle collided with an empty office front, even though he was no where near the crash. His 72-year-old wife, from Leigh, had come to pick up him up from the clinic in Southchurch Road, Southend, when she was
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Basildon: Social club handed last minute lifeline
A long-running social club has been handed a last-minute lifeline. The St Basil's Catholic Social Club, which started life in the 1970s and has 900 members, was set to close on New Year's Eve after landlords demanded it leave. But a deal has now been
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Athletics: Southend on a High with new record
Southend High School's points total in winning the junior boys race at the English Schools' National Cross-Country Cup at Oswestry was a new record for the competition. With Tom Fifth winning the event, David Smale fifth, Jon Staines sixth and George
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Soccer: Colchester United 1-2 Hull City (Coca-Cola League One)
Colchester United's recent home form failed to get any better after they fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to high-flying Hull City in the on Saturday. Substitute Gareth Williams struck late on for the U's to give the team brief hope of a recovery. However
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Coggeshall: Lights are burning in town
Coggeshall's Christmas celebrations got off to a bright start when actor Glen Murphy arrived on the town's fire engine. Big switch on - Coggeshall carnival queen, Steffie Taylor and London's Burning star, Glen Murphy, switch on the Coggeshall Christmas
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Braintree: Alex joins management team
A Braintree restaurant has added a new assistant manager to its staff. Alexandre Miguel Silva Carvalho has joined the Tutti Tuscan Grille, Tuscan restaurant at Freeport Designer Shopping Village in Braintree. The position was newly created due to an increase
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Westcliff: Woman who dishonestly claimed £28,000 is jailed
A woman who dishonesty claimed more than £28,000 in benefits by signing on in both her own name and her sister's has been jailed for nine months. Kim Smith, 32, of Station Road, Westcliff, fiddled the Department of Work and Pensions regularly over a ten-year
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Harwich: Pirates release own DVD
Pirate radio's return to Harwich earlier this year is set to help restore a piece of maritime history. BBC Essex spent a week in Harwich port in April celebrating the 40th anniversary of Radio Caroline's first broadcast. Now the National Vintage and Wireless
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Jaywick: Police win closure notice
Police have won permission to board up a home which has caused misery for neighbours. The closure order bans anyone from entering the address in Gorse Way, Jaywick, for three months. Colchester Magistrates' Court heard on Friday that drugs, including
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Southend: Market traders having "worst Christmas ever"
Desperate market traders are experiencing their "worst Christmas ever" because of council regeneration work, it was claimed today. Business owners in Southend's York Road Market are struggling to survive due to a lack of customers this festive season.
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Basildon: Man jailed for taxi driver attack
A 21-year-old heroin addict who admitted his part in a late night robbery on a taxi driver has been jailed for nearly four years. Christopher Clarke was one of three men who took a taxi from Basildon train station in the early hours of Friday, April 16
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Essex: Reindeer in town for Santa's sleigh
A team of reindeer will delight children when they tow Santa's sleigh up and down Witham high street on Saturday afternoon. The four adult and two baby animals will travel down from their home in the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland to pull the sledge,
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Dockers adrift
Tilbury 0, Beaconsfield Sycob 2 ANOTHER dreadful day at Chadfields leaves the dismal Dockers marooned eight points and a bagful of goals from safety. Little went right for Tilbury who look certainties for the drop after another lacklustre display capped
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Basildon: Travellers plan fortress
Crays Hill travellers' site could become a "walled fortress" to fend off bailiffs if plans to construct a brick perimeter around it are carried out. The proposal to put a wall around the site and block access roads is the latest idea being considered
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Athletics: GB bronze debut for Hickey
Southend's teenage sporting superstar Adam Hickey made a tremendous start to his Great Britain international athletics career in Germany yesterday to earn a bronze medal. The 16-year-old Southend High School pupil Hickey had stepped up an age group from
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Soccer: Currie soaks up the praise
Darren Currie revelled in the limelight after his 'dream' debut at Queens Park Rangers. The Ipswich Town new boy enjoyed a memorable baptism as he scored and helped transform the game in the Blues' 4-2 success at Loftus Road. Speaking after Saturday's
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Leigh: War on teen boozers
Groups of youngsters will be broken up and ordered home following a spate of trouble in Old Leigh, police warned today. Gangs have tormented residents with drunken fights and vomiting outside people's homes. Bobbies and police community support officers
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Colchester: Web land sale clampdown
Councillors have clamped down on a speculative internet scheme selling plots of land - advertised as ripe for development, near a north-Essex village. Land between the A12 and Colchester Road at West Bergholt is being sold by Profitable Plots, a land
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Southend: Pharmacists develop new health services in Africa
Three pharmacists from Southend Hospital have just returned from a trip to west Africa, where they helped to develop new services. Uchenna Onuoha, Carolyn Drewett and Wissam Hussain spent three weeks in Cameroon visiting hospital and health centres to
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Football: Late Leeds penalty leaves Pards seething
West Ham boss Alan Pardew was left fuming after a refereeing decision cost his side the points in Friday's 1-1 draw at home to Leeds United. Like most of his players Pardew felt David Healy dived to win a stoppage time penalty for the visitors after he
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Colchester: Teenager in rape claim
Police are investigating claims that a 15-year-old girl was raped in Colchester. The teenager told officers she was set upon by a man in the Vineyard Street car park. Detectives have now issued a plea for information from passers-by. A spokesman said:
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Soccer: Taylor's praise for defeated U's
Hull City boss Peter Taylor heaped praise on Colchester United after his side had dispatched the U's with two breakaway goals at Layer Road on Saturday. In vain - Colchester United battled well against Hu;; City but came away empty-handed. 40017-1 Following
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Maldon: It's number one, every number one
An Essex music fan has sold his unique collection of every number one single recorded in Britain. The amazing archive includes a thousand tunes - from Al Martino to the latest Band Aid hit. Ray Spiller's remarkable collection, which covers 78s, 45s and
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Southend: A disaster waiting to happen
Southend's cliffs could collapse onto the seafront closing a section of Western Esplanade, council leader Howard Briggs has warned. A localised "disaster" is predicted by consultants because Southend Council cannot raise the £35million urgently needed
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Colchester: Suspect Viagra seized in swoop
Police investigating the sale of fake Viagra on the internet have seized thousands of tablets in Colchester. A team of officers found 900 boxes of pills, worth £60,000, after they stopped a car in Stanway. It is believed the tablets are fake Viagra but
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Football: Gulls' disgust at race row
Canvey soccer boss Jeff King was an all-round angry man after seeing his side slump to their sixth defeat in seven games. Gulls crashed 4-1 at former Football League outfit Halifax who, pushing hard for a Nationwide Conference play-off place, are sporting
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Clacton: Warming news for rail passengers
Rail passengers will have somewhere warm and dry to wait as new facilities at Clacton station are officially opened. The new waiting room was unveiled on Thursday by MP Ivan Henderson. A new CCTV system has also been installed to improve security at the
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Soccer: Eastwood guns for Bury goals
Southend United striker Freddy Eastwood is hoping to fire the Shrimpers up the League Two table with victory at Bury tomorrow afternoon. The Basildon based hot-shot has netted nine goals in 10 starts for Steve Tilson's side but is determined to improve
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Grays held at last
GRAYS' run of 12 straight wins came to an end at Eastbourne Borough on Saturday but manager Mark Stimson is probably satisfied with the 2-2 draw at a side that had won eight out of its 11 previous home matches. Grays had led thanks to Steve West's 18th
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Football: Bart saves best until last
Southend United goalkeeper Bart Griemink was delighted after securing a dramatic 1-0 victory for the Shrimpers at Bury on Saturday. The Dutch custodian brilliantly palmed away an injury time penalty from the Shakers' Danny Swailes as an earlier spot-kick
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Braintree: Town set for new £1.5m bus station
Braintree looks set to get a new £1.5 million bus station. The town's bus park, in Victoria Street, has not been used as the base for services operating in the town since bus services were deregulated in 1985 Instead most services, those operated by First
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Football: Striker aims to cash in at Halifax
New on-loan West Ham striker Greg Pearson looks set for his Canvey debut tomorrow when Gulls make the long trip north to take on fourth-placed Halifax Town in the Nationwide Conference. Pearson, 19, yet to make his first team debut at Upton Park, is described
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Soccer: Queens Park Rangers 2-4 Ipswich Town (Coca Cola Championship)
After a lifetime in football, Joe Royle must be bored senseless of regal puns on his surname. But, in his post-match press conference, he offered a pearl of his own dubbing his spirited troops the 'comeback kings'. That sums things up for the Blues. For
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Billericay: Crowds turn out for fun night
A crowd of around 14,500 thronged Billericay for the 11th Christmas fun night. Despite the efforts of some unruly youths to disrupt the event, organisers said they were pleased with Wednesday night's turnout. The event was the 11th organised by the Rotary
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Soccer: Colchester United 1-2 Hull City (Coca-Cola League One)
Colchester United's recent home form failed to get any better after they fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to high-flying Hull City on Saturday. Substitute Gareth Williams struck late on for the U's to give the team brief hope of a recovery. However, they
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Colchester: Rail station attack
A man who butted someone at a railway station and assaulted police officers sent to investigate was told he was lucky not to have been sent to prison. Colchester Magistrates' Court heard how Marc Bryan, 21, became aggressive towards youths gathered around
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Grays: Drunk cleared
An alcoholic whose blood was found at the scene of a burglary walked free from court yesterday. It took a jury at Basildon Crown Court less than an hour of deliberation to find Charles Vince not guilty of breaking into a flat in Falcon Way on May 7. Vince
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Rugby: Southend hope to end home hoodoo
Southend aim to end their wretched home form with a win against visitors Havant tomorrow. The Seasiders have lost their last three matches at Warner's Bridge and will be looking to pick up another victory in their bid to climb away from the depths of
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Colchester: Hospitals set to go 'smoke-free'
Colchester's NHS hospitals will become smoke-free in the new year. Staff, patients and visitors to Colchester General and Essex County Hospitals won't be allowed to smoke, except in designated areas, from January. The move is a bid to reduce the unnecessary
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School plans on show
plans for the proposed new Gateway Community College building are due to be considered by Thurrock Council's planning committee in the new year. The plans, detailing the G-shaped building to be built near the corner of Marshfoot Road and St Chad's Road
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Basildon: "Let's see how they like it!"
A south Essex businessman is negotiating to buy picturesque land on Premier Tony Blair's doorstep to sell to travellers. Len Gridley is also planning to buy acres of green belt land for travellers in the constituencies of Cabinet ministers as a protest
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Soccer: Maldon Town 2-0 Wivenhoe Town (Southern League Division One East )
Sometimes a substitution can have a huge impact on a game and the introduction of Maldon Town's Nicky Simpson certainly swung their clash with Wivenhoe Town in their favour. The first half of their Southern League division one east encounter was keenly
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Essex: Rise in emergency calls
Ambulance crews in Essex dealt with the busiest weekend of the year with almost as many calls coming in as last New Year's Eve. Teams from Essex Ambulance Service dealt with 371 calls on Friday night, just 29 fewer than on New Year's Eve. The number of
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Chelmsford: Hospice closer to its £6m target
A hospice in mid-Essex is celebrating a six-figure donation, edging it closer to its £6 million target. Fowler, Smith and Jones (FSJ) Charitable Trusts, based in Chelmsford, added more than £200,000 to Farleigh Hospice's appeal to build a new, 15-bed
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Soccer: Royle approval for hot Currie
Joe Royle hailed new signing Darren Currie after the winger enjoyed a sensational scoring debut at Loftus Road. The winger only signed at the end of last week and, although not included in the starting line-up, helped change the game after coming on as
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Soccer: Bury 0-1 Southend United (League Two)
The Shrimpers won their first League Two match for a month an shot back up into the play-off places with this win in Lancashire. Blues striker Wayne Gray scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot after 25 minutes when Bury's David Flitcroft
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Billericay: Parents pledge cash after daughter dies
The parents of a young woman who was killed just weeks before she was due to do a bungee jump for charity have pledged a donation. Emma Lambert, 21, of Fieldfare, Billericay, was taken to Basildon hospital on Tuesday, November 23, with minor injuries
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Soccer: Billericay up to fourth
Billericay Town picked up their second home win in four days to move up to fourth place in the Ryman Premier League after a 2-1 win against Staines. But they made hard work of the victory, allowing the visitors back into the game in the second half after
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Maldon: Refurb closes town's heart
Part of the heart of Maldon will be closed in a matter of weeks. The next phase of the High Street makeover is due to start on January 5. The stretch of road between West Square and Silver Street will be shut for up to ten weeks, leaving traffic to find
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Football: Wignall compensation case heads for court
Sacked Southend United boss Steve Wignall's long-running compensation dispute with his former employers is set to be dragged through the courts. The League Managers Association confirmed Blues had failed to pay the last instalment of an agreed settlement
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Southchurch: Residents fight flats plans
Campaigning Doreen Wittridge is leading residents in a fight against a block of flats in her street. Developers are looking to demolish a home in Park Lane, Southchurch, and put up eight one- and two-bedroom flats. Ms Wittridge, 58, has held meetings
