YOUNGSTERS in a Colchester community will not be bored this summer after a new £29,000 basketball court was unveiled. Children, community workers and councillors attended the unveiling of the new court and a new youth shelter, at Mill Road recreation
BACK in 1959, movies were big business. Cinema-goers flocked to North By Northwest by Alfred Hitchcock, and were dazzled by Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot. Thousands of miles away from Hollywood, the impact of pictures like these was felt by many
A CAMPAIGNER who spearheaded calls for Clacton to have its own dialysis unit says the facility will transform patients’ lives. More than 300 people backed Janice Rowe’s petition for a renal unit in Tendring. Earlier this month health bosses confirmed
A WOMAN has been given the all-clear after being tested as a suspected case of swine flu at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford. The hospital has declined to release any further details about the woman, other than to say she is in her forties.
THE England and Wales Cricket Board have committed themselves to a two-division Twenty20 tournament starting next summer as their alternative to the lucrative and successful Indian Premier League. The ECB Board voted today for the extended format following
MATT Walker just missed out on a century against his former county as Essex reached 330 for seven on the opening day of their Championship match against Kent at Chelmsford. The 35-year-old left-hander, in his first season with his new county, fell just
A DOG was saved from drowning at Dovercourt Bay. Firefighters from Colchester and Dovercourt and Thames Coastguard were called to help the brown and white Springer Spaniel yesterday at about 4.40pm today. The female dog, called Rosie,
A VICAR suffered a broken jaw when he was attacked by a yob on the way to his Clacton church. The Rev Guy Thorburn, vicar of St John's with St Mark's Great Clacton, was walking in St John's Road on Saturday at about 8.45pm when he was attacked. He was
A WOMAN was hit over the head and had her purse stolen during a street robbery in Braintree. The 21-year-old had walked from NatWest, in High Street, along Coggeshall Road and into Weavers Park when she was attacked. It is thought the assailant followed
A HUGE second world war mine was blown up by the Royal Navy after it was dredged up by a fishing boat’s nets near the new multi-million pound windfarm off Clacton. The controlled explosion sent a plume of water 200ft into the air, six miles off Holland-on-Sea
A CAT used up one of its nine lives when it was stranded in a tree for three days. Mosy, a black cat, had to be rescued by firefighters after he climbed 30 metres up a tree in Heath Road, Lexden. Owner Phillip Evans, of Christine Chase
A PEDESTRIAN was seriously hurt when a car careered into him on a busy Colchester street. John Pearce, of Hamilton Road, Colchester, who is in his forties, was walking to work at North Hill Barbers, when a car was shunted on to the pavement opposite
A RACECOURSE beset by problems may lose next year’s fixtures if a buyer cannot be found in two weeks. Great Leighs Racecourse is in the hands of administrators Deloitte and needs a new owner and operator by May 11, when a decision will be made about
A CHURCH that has undergone a £300,000 makeover has fallen £30,000 short of being able to pay for the work. But the Reverend Canon Pat Prestney is confident when people see the beauty of the building, they will put their hands in their pockets to make
DAVID and Tracy Birks, who struggled to conceive, have had an emotional journey since their miracle boy was born with two holes in his heart. After three miscarriages, David and Tracy tried IVF. When this failed, they thought they would never have a
A MAN who bought a machine to help him breathe has to sign it over to a hospital before health officials agree to service it. Anthony Neal forked out £349 after he was told it would take four months to get one for free The 60-year-old suffers from Sleep
NEW sports facilities for Tiptree will go ahead whether or not Colchester United get a new training ground in the village. Club chairman Robbie Cowling said his ongoing revamp of the Warriors Rest sports field was completely independent of moves to create
THE Manningtree Vehicle Show 2009 has been hailed a roaring success. The family event which started out as a small craft and car show has turned into a mammoth day out. This year the 11th show attracted more than 2,000 people. The event, at Manningtree
Joe Dunne has challenged Colchester United’s youngsters to step up to the plate next season. U’s coach Dunne has fielded a reserve side made up predominantly of youth-team players over recent weeks. Fifteen-year-old Tom Bender played in the reserves
Clacton all-rounder Michael Comber made an emphatic start to the new Gibbs Denley East Anglian Premier League season. The rising star, who has just joined the professional ranks at Essex, helped his side to a 17-run victory at home to Cambridge Granta
Essex have made an excellent start to the new cricket season – but it is now going to get even better. Leg-spinning wizard Danish Kaneria has finally arrived from Pakistan and he is ready to bamboozle batsmen up and down the country with his array of
Julian Russell’s thirst for runs shows no sign of diminishing as he helped Colchester and East Essex through to the second round of the Essex League Cup. Run-poacher Russell, a prolific scorer in Essex League cricket ever since he joined Colchester,
Two goals from top-scorer Chris Bryan in the opening seven minutes gave promotion-chasing Halstead Town a crucial 2-1 win over Ipswich Wanderers. But their vital Ridgeons League division one game at Rosemary Lane was in danger of not being played, after
Frinton got their division one campaign under way but suffered a dramatic three-run defeat at Exning. Batting first, the Suffolk side made 215 but Russ Everson’s men fell agonisingly short, being all out for 212. Despite making a disappointing start
IT WAS hot, they had blisters and some had bad knees, but they made it. These runners from the Halstead area are now recovering after pounding 26.2 miles of pavement in Sunday’s Flora London Marathon. Jeremy Hulme and his team made an ass-tronimical
A PETITION opposing a major development in Harwich has been presented to council leaders. Plans to build a marina, hotel and multi-storey car park at the Navyard, in Harwich, have been drawn up by Gaunt Francis alongside Tendring Council’s
GET-TOUGH council chiefs are set to outlaw vans from using Clacton seafront as a free campsite. Bosses want to ban overnight stays and cut the length of time people can park during the day at the most popular sites. Cars could be limited to two-hour
RESIDENTS in Maldon got the chance to hear about a future nuclear power station in Bradwell. Nigel Knee, from EDF Energy, addressed members of the public at a Maldon Town Council meeting. The town had missed out on a round of consultations
A FARMERS’ market could start up at the home of Colchester United. Businessman Ian Chisholm, who runs similar markets in Southend and Brentwood, has held talks with U’s chiefs over opening one at the Weston Homes Community Stadium. He
JEREMY Bamber, who is serving life for killing five members of his family in 1985, has lost his Court of Appeal challenge against an order that he must stay behind bars for life. Three judges in London rejected his plea that his “whole-life
THE man badly injured when a car mounted the pavement in Colchester's North Hill has been named. John Pearce, a father of two from Hamilton Road, was walking to work at the North Hill Barbers when a dark grey convertible Volskwagen Golf was
HUNDREDS of health workers have been told they can no longer park for free. The 285 staff at the Primary Care Centre in Turner Road, Colchester, will have to pay to park at the 208-space car park, in order to leave room for patients.
SUPERMARKET offers and the recession are mainly to blame for a sizeable drop in beer sales, say Colchester’s licensees. British Beer and Pub Association figures show 1.7 million fewer pints were drunk every day in the first three months of
