Archive

  • Rayleigh: Fruity snacks make playtimes healthier

    A SCHOOL has banned pupils from eating sugary or fatty snacks at breaktime to promote healthy living. Children at Grove Junior School in Rayleigh, get fresh air, exercise and an energy boost from bananas, apples or carrots or anything else from the healthy

  • Earls Colne: Firm wins tribunal case over 'harsh' sacking

    A company has been cleared of unfairly sacking a worker who made a 360-mile daily round trip to a construction site in Yorkshire. Bosses at C A Blackwell (Contracts) discovered that for a week Jim Butcher used his company van to make the journey while

  • Colchester: Court martial restarts

    A fresh start was made in the court martial of seven Colchester-based paratroopers charged with murdering teenager Nadhem Abdullah and violent disorder in Iraq. The hearing started last Monday but a member of the court martial panel recognised a defendant

  • Colchester: Man, 34 admits racial attack

    A newsagent was subjected to a racial attack in Colchester. The shopowner was punched and his jacket ripped in the assault, which took place after he pursued a shoplifter, a court heard. The man was working at Golden News, on Maldon Road, at 8.30pm on

  • Wickford: TV quiz battle for Tom

    ECHO business reporter Tom King will be showing off his general knowledge tonight when he appears on TV show Mastermind. Tom will also be answering questions on his specialist subject, Dad's Army. Although he is sworn to secrecy about whether he won his

  • Wormingford: Jason offers alternative

    Spriralling petrol prices may mean motoring misery on most filling station forecourts but it's wonder-fuel news for one budding businessman. Fat of the land - record high fuel prices are a bonus for Jason Cattrell's biodiesel business. Picture: NIGEL

  • Basildon: Don't let our villages disappear off the map

    FED-UP residents today demanded Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet are no longer "ignored" by Basildon Council. Parish priest the Rev Ron Wiffen has accused the council of doing the two historic villages an injustice by classing them as part of Pitsea,

  • Walton: Jamie finds message that travelled 200 miles

    On first inspection, beach cleaner, Jamie Cornes, thought it was just another bottle. Message in a bottle - James Cornes and kiosk-owner Paul Barnes, read the message Victoria Hand put in the sea on the Isle of Wight. Picture: TERRY WEEDEN (44753-1) But

  • Cricket: Irani salutes Ashes heroes

    Jubilant Essex skipper Ronnie Irani today added his congratulations as England enjoyed the limelight of their sensational Ashes victory against Australia. Michael Vaughan's men won the series 2-1 after the fifth and final Test ended in a draw at The Oval

  • Witham: Estate clean deal sealed

    A community warden will continue keeping Witham's Templars Estate litter free and a more pleasant place to live after his contract was renewed. Making a difference - Steve Howard with Cllr Michael Gage and Valerie Ahern, chairman of Templars Community

  • Dovercourt: Family in fear after turps attack

    Vandals poured liquid through the letterbox of a family home. They struck on Sunday at a house in Abdy Avenue, Dovercourt, as four children and two adults were inside. A liquid, believed to be turpentine, had been poured inside the building and destroyed

  • Colchester: Murder probe - three arrests

    Horrifed shoppers today told of the moments when a man was fatally injured. Witness - Fred Spinks at the shopping centre, in Greenstead, today. Picture: STEVE BRADING (45078-d) The man was hurt while he was standing at a cash machine in a busy Greenstead

  • Southend: US cars cruise for flood victims

    VICTIMS of the New Orleans disasters were remembered as owners of classic American cars drove up and down Southend seafront to raise money for the survivors. Seafront residents, who are more used to loud music, modified Ford Fiestas and Vauxhall Corsas

  • Basildon: £100,000 one-stop shop for residents

    A NEW £100,000 "one-stop shop" will be built in Northlands Park, Felmore. Residents will soon be able to pay their bills, receive advice and hold meetings at the new community centre. Basildon Council's cabinet gave the go-ahead for the resource centre

  • Southend: Police back Anne Frank exhibition

    ESSEX Police have spent £4,000 sponsoring a Southend exhibition featuring Holocaust victim Anne Frank, which is designed to fight race and hate crime. South East Essex College, in Luker Road, will host the free show called Anne Frank + you, from Friday

  • Cricket: Local cricket fans savour Ashes win

    N0 family could be more deserving of the tag "cricket nuts" than the Tibbenhams of the Hadleigh and Thundersley Club where sons Paul and Mike both play and mum Mary is first team scorer. Mary admitted to being glued to the final stages of the Fifth Test

  • Football: Town aiming to bank cash

    Billericay Town have been given extra incentive to triumph in tonight's FA Cup first qualifying round home replay with Spartan South Midlands League St Margaretsbury. Justin Edinburgh's men were held to a draw in Stansted St Margarets on Saturday and

  • Soccer: Royle is refusing to panic

    Back-to-back Coca-Cola Championship defeats have not left Ipswich Town boss Joe Royle deflated ahead of tonight's visit of Southampton. Instead the Blues chief is surprisingly upbeat on their current plight as they look to get one over freshly-relegated

  • Basildon: School bans chocolate

    A SCHOOL has banned chocolate and crisps from lunchboxes and axed its tuckshop as part of a healthy eating drive, it was revealed today. Whitmore Junior School in Basildon took the decision to ban high fat and sugar foods at school to improve the diets

  • Cricket: Westcliff aim to bounce back

    Inconsistency might have cost Westcliff their Premier place, but skipper Jon Pratt believes they can bounce straight back next season. Westcliff were relegated long before their final game of the season, but they made a decent fist of their last appearance

  • Maldon: Man wanted to take boys' photo

    A worried mother has warned parents to be vigilant after a "very suspicious" man asked to take photographs of her young sons. The man could give no credible explanation of why he wanted the shots and police have added their own warning for people to be

  • Southend: Scarred for life fear

    A MAN fears he will be scarred for life after being pushed through a glass door in Southend. The 28-year-old, from Hockley, suffered a deep puncture wound to his lower abdomen and horrific facial injuries which needed 60 stitches. He was pushed from behind

  • Clacton: Heroes rewarded for beach rescue

    Three heroes who rescued a drowning woman and her granddaughter from the sea at Clacton have picked up top awards. Both senior beach patrol officer Ryan Carvey and seasonal waterfront warden Jamie Sacre were on duty at the town's West Beach when they

  • Tendring: Police warn residents no place for vigilantes

    The head of Tendring's police force has warned people not to take the law into their own hands. A 59-year-old Jaywick resident said she would lay traps to stop yobs riding Mini-Motos and motorbikes in the resort. Pauline Aldridge, of Broome Way, said

  • Cricket: Clubs start to feel the Ashes effect

    Cricket fever has taken over schools and cricket clubs in mid Essex as youngsters were gripped by the Ashes. As the England team celebrated its historic win with a parade in Trafalgar Square today, local people told how the final day of the Test captured

  • Hadleigh: Housing scheme to revive town

    A HOUSING complex in Hadleigh could mark the beginning of a three-stage rejuvenation project for the town centre, it has been revealed. Designers Third Dimension revealed plans for its plush Steeple Gate apartments in Castle Lane, which could take advantage

  • Laindon: New homes to be built on Five Links

    THE final stage of the re-development of the once-notorious Five Links estate has been given the go-ahead by council chiefs. Basildon Council's cabinet voted unanimously in favour of stage three of the plans, which will see nearly 600 new homes built

  • South Essex: Fuel blockade fear sparks pumps panic

    THE threat of a fuel blockade has sparked petrol panic buying across south Essex. Queues of more than 50 cars could be seen stretching across forecourts and down roads as motorists tried to fill up before threatened protests take place this week about

  • Colchester: School digs up Roman tomb

    The remains of a Roman tomb have been unearthed beneath a Colchester school. Burial find - two members of Colchester Archaeology Trust show the scale of the "significant" find in the grounds of Colchester Royal Grammar School. The discovery was made by

  • North Essex: It's panic at the petrol pumps

    Panic-buying has broken out on petrol station forecourts amid fears of blockades in protest against spiralling prices. Queuing up - drivers at Sainsbury's Tollgate filling station. Picture: NIGEL BROWN (45026-7) Motorists were today queuing up to fill

  • Rugby Union: Southend send Old Pats packing

    Southend maintained their indian sign over Old Patesians as they got their home campaign off to a successful 30-10 winning start on Saturday. The Seasiders have now won all five games against their Cheltenham based visitors since jumping into the National

  • North Essex: Get on the bus - your school's full

    A mother is refusing to send her son to lessons after he was denied entry to his nearest school. No room at the school - Tracey-Anne Beckett and son Joshua who must travel from Manningtree to Colchester. Picture: STEVE BRADING (45068-a) Although living

  • Westcliff: Doris is young at art

    TALENTED artist Doris Walker is exhibiting her latest works at a south Essex library - at the age of 93. The exhibition began on Saturday at Benfleet library and features watercolours and hand-painted greeting cards. Mrs Walker, of Crowstone Road, Westcliff

  • Jaywick: Please, help us catch arsonists

    A fire chief has urged a community to give information about arsonists blighting a seaside resort. Residents in Jaywick are still living in fear that their homes could be the next to be gutted after a spate of deliberate blazes over the summer. Kevin

  • Soccer: Dropped Fab does not bear grudges

    Warming the bench was no barrel of laughs for Fabian Wilnis at Sheffield United. And you could understand if the Ipswich Town defender was slightly miffed at his exclusion - seeing as he has been one of the Coca-Cola Championship side's star performers