Darren Currie has vowed to help Ipswich Town restore pride in tonight's Coca-Cola Championship clash against Preston North End. The Blues have been licking their wounds since Saturday's disastrous 5-1 defeat at the hands of West Bromwich Albion. However
Colchester United are today standing proudly as the kings of East Anglian football for the first time in almost half-a-century. The U's are deservedly leading the way ahead of Ipswich Town, Southend and Norwich City in the Coca-Cola Championship. It
All-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate has signed a new two-year contract with Essex that will keep him at the county until the end of the 2008 season. The 26-year-old enjoyed a successful campaign in 2006, during which he scored his maiden Championship century
A Roman stadium was twice as big as experts originally thought - and double the size of Colchester United's Layer Road ground. Thrilled archaeologists have just unearthed a curving 40ft section of the Roman chariot circus at Colchester garrison. The
A Good Samaritan has been praised for helping two drunken sailors in trouble. The passer-by came to the rescue after the seamen ran aground off Harwich's Stone Pier on Sunday afternoon. Spotting they were in difficulty, the unknown walker jumped into
A teenager had a "lucky escape" after his car was catapulted off the road into a field. Paramedics were called to the A414 between North Weald and Ongar at about 3.20pm yesterday after reports that a car had left the road and rolled several times in
A breast cancer sufferer and her friends have shaved their heads in aid of a cancer charity. Brave fundraiser Sarah Bowden, of The Avenue, Great Clacton, had her hair shaved off in order to raise cash for Cancer Research UK. The 35-year-old recently
A councillor has called for a review of flooding policy after claiming poorer families cannot afford to defend their homes. Tending councillor Chris Griffiths has called for a review after concerns raised during the high tides early this month. Tending
Revellers are hitting out at drunken yobs following a weekend of violence in a seaside town. The outcry follows an incident in Rosemary Road, Clacton, at 12.35am on Sunday in which door staff were injured. One reveller, who asked not to be named, said
A councillor is calling for another public meeting about the creation of a wind farm between Clacton and St Osyth. Tendring Council vice-chairman Peter De-Vaux Balbirnie has called for a second public meeting in relation to the siting of five 410ft wind
Pupils at a primary school in Jaywick celebrated their school's 40th anniversary with a balloon race. Students at Frobisher Primary School, in Frobisher Drive, released more than 300 balloons to mark the occasion on Friday. Pupils are now awaiting people
A big teddy bear hug was given to Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Piglet at a special tea party to celebrate the bear's 80th birthday. Children in the foundation classes at Howbridge Infant School in Dengie Close, Witham, were encouraged to bring their teddy
Two schools and their pupils are mourning the deaths of two inspirational teachers. Alan Maydon, 48, who had led the maths department at the Philip Morant School and College in Colchester for the past 20 years having taught there for 24, died after a
Gay Essex dads Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow are launching a new haircare range and hair salons to raise money for cancer research. The couple have formed H2o Haircare following Tony's diagnosis with throat cancer. H2o will open with one salon in Moulsham
Rail company One has "unreservedly" apologised for a spate of disruptions leading to days of commuter misery. The rail company has said sorry for the unsatisfactory and disruptive journeys between August 30 and September 5 in a two-page letter to West
Cricket fan Kathleen Kitty' Briggs has scored her very own century. Mrs Briggs was the centre of attention at a lunch and afternoon party marking her 100th birthday, attended by family and friends. Now the oldest resident at New Copford Place, Copford
Police are investigating after a bogus caller took a "large amount" of money from an elderly couple. A man called at a house in Stalin Road, Colchester, at about 1.30pm on Friday, saying he needed to check the water supply to the house. He went into
Hundreds of people of all ages took part in a day of events devoted to playing, tasting and learning about apples. The Apple Day took place at George Yard Shopping Centre, Braintree, where any activity you could possibly do with an apple was on offer
More than 5,000 food fanatics flocked to Cressing to enjoy a huge array of delicious foods and fine wines in a historic setting. Tempting smells wafted out as the Autumn Essex Food Fair, which included 120 stalls selling different speciality foods, took
Every child has an assistant in the classroom at one primary school. Year 5 pupils at Home Farm Primary School, in Shelley Road, Colchester, have been given a personal digital assistant (PDA) to help them in their learning. Pupils showed off their work
It's official! The first councillor to be voted off on the I'm A Councillor Get Me Out Of Here 2006 for Colchester is... Richard Bourne (Lab, Shrub End). Youngsters in the area took the decision to give him the boot after deciding he least represented
Police are appealing for witnesses after a man was knocked off his bike and threatened for cash. The victim, in his 40s, was riding on a footpath near Bristol Road, Colchester, at about 3.45pm on Sunday when he was approached by two men. They stopped
Detectives in Essex are swapping notes with their counterparts in Suffolk to see if a spate of armed robberies are linked. The move comes after a fourth shop in the area was held up by masked raiders in as many weeks. Police are keen to establish if
A shopper had her own supermarket sweep after winning a charity trolley dash competition. Rita Richardson, of Foxglove Close, Witham, won £246 worth of goodies from Tesco at the town's Grove Shopping Centre, after buying the winning ticket in the Witham
Arsonists have destroyed a children's play area. Fencing around the children's play area in West Mersea was pulled up and piled on to the skate park in Barfield Road before being set alight. The skate park was put together about four or five years ago
Double-decker trains could be launched between Colchester and London in a bid to solve overcrowding. Government transport chiefs are looking at the possibility of using the European-style trains on key routes into the capital. The Department for Transport
Get on your bike to beat the Colchester jams. With traffic regularly coming to a standstill in Colchester, four people used different transport methods to get into the town centre. The results have shown cycling is by far the quickest way into town
Families are facing a miserable Christmas after a festive savings company went into administration. Customer and agent Nicola Seager, husband Michael and children were awaiting the delivery of Christmas goodies from national company Farepak within the
Police today warned people to be on their guard after a large amount of lethal cyanide was stolen from a yard in Colchester. Two 500kg drums of the poisonous and highly toxic liquid, along with copper, were stolen in the raid, which happened at an unnamed
