Chris Wright took a Twenty20 best four for 24 as last year's semi-finalists Essex won for the first time in this season's competition with a 17-run victory over Sussex at Hove. Sussex seemed to be in control when they bowled out the Eagles for 148
ESSEX defeated Sussex by 17 runs in their Twenty20 Cup match at Hove. Skipper Mark Pettini won the toss, decided to bat and saw his side bowled out for 148 from 19.4 overs. England star Ravi Bopara lead the way with 45, while Pettini added 31 and Ryan
THERE are Mercury Company shows and then there is Wagstaffe the Wind-Up Boy. I have, in the past, been accused of liking pretty much every single company show there has ever been. While this isn’t exactly true, I do have a soft-spot for certain actors
FOLLOWING their successful landmark show, members of the Severalls Performing Group are back once again doing what they do best. Originally called the Severalls Hospital Concert Group, the troupe was formed by a group of bored hospital staff in 1958
A MOTORCYCLIST escaped serious injury after being involved in a collision with a car. The incident happened at about 6.30pm today on the A120 close to the junction for Coggeshall. Police and ambulance crews attended the scene but said no one appeared
A MAN caught with £60,000 worth of drugs in the boot of his vehicle refused to tell police who he was representing. Mark Scrivener feared reprisals from those behind the plot, a court heard. His task was to deliver the cannabis, weighing 12kg, to the
TWO students are hoping to become the latest internet sensation by poking fun at the MPs’ expenses scandal. Daniel Stamp and Kerri Butcher, both students at Colchester Sixth Form College, have ridiculed the furore over parliamentary expense
A FATHER is paying tribute to his adventurous son who disappeared while paragliding in northern India seven years ago. Joel Kitchen, a 25-year-old Brightlingsea chef, took off into the skies from Eir in the northern province of Himachal Pradesh and
ABOUT 50 youngsters made energetic use of their half-term holidays by climbing a giant wall and attempting an assault course. The event was staged by Mistley Norman Kids’ Club, as part of a week of activities. Children aged between four and 16 attended
A YOUNG biker, who suffered serious injuries in a road accident, is “stable and getting on well”, according to his father. Barry Deal’s son Innes, 17, came off his bike in Halstead on Monday. Innes, of Beazley End, was out on his Senda 125cc, getting
FIREFIGHTERS battled though the night to save a farmhouse after a blaze broke out in the early hours of yesterday. An exclusion zone was set up after flames threatened to ignite gas cyclinders at Brazier Farm in Beach Road, St Osyth. The fire broke
A COLLEGE has allayed fears free courses for students with learning disabilities will be axed. Concerns were raised over the future of the Braintree College courses after it emerged the Learning and Skills Council would not be funding a number of pre-entry
A DEVASTATED family marked the death of a young boy on the day he would have celebrated his 10th birthday. Michael Gibson died in a collision with a car on Wellesley Road, Clacton, on February 8. Parents Kelly and John, brother Joshua
A MUM-of-two has appealed for a clean-up campaign to be adopted from a neighbouring county. Clare Lawrie, of Empire Road, Dovercourt, said she wants people to start cleaning up after themselves and thinks using Suffolk’s Don’t be a Tosser campaign could
ESSEX County Council has blamed rising energy costs on a decision to cut the amount of money it spends on repairing street lights. The authority has set up the Bank of Essex this year, which will see it lend £50million to small businesses. It is also
Pat Baldwin is fighting fit. And Colchester United’s out-of-contract defender is determined to ensure he is in the best possible shape for the new season. The long-serving U’s centre-half - currently in talks over a new deal at the Weston Homes Community
A TOWN council could “gamble” public money by putting it into corporate bonds. Halstead Town Council is considering investing in companies like Unilever and Angilan Water. However, some councillors have warned that as “custodians of
TWO prostate cancer support groups will be holding a joint meeting next week. North East Essex Prostate Cancer Support Group will be hosting members from the Southend Prostate Support Group on Wednesday. It will be held from 7pm to 9pm in the training
ROGUE drivers have been targeted in a police crackdown. Officers from a dog unit worked with the automatic number plate reader team and Clacton’s neighbourhood police to catch offenders. Essex County Council’s road safety team was also on hand to issue
VILLAGERS who fought to keep a post office running are celebrating the appointment of a permanent postmaster. Toppesfield Stores houses a counter which struggled to stay open after a previous postmaster, Jane Jervis, left. Jervis, of
A FORMER soldier has raised hundreds of pounds after having a tattoo etched on his thigh. Andrew Robinson, of The Park, Mistley, chose the Help the Heroes emblem as a tattoo to show his support for soldiers fighting abroad. Andrew was an infantry soldier
STUDENTS turned up in style to celebrate the end of their school days. Year 11 pupils at Stanway School enjoyed their prom ahead of GCSE exams. A large crowd turned up to see students arrive in their finery in a range of unusual vehicles. Assistant
A WIDOW has spoken of her traumatic year in which she was accused of fraud and lost her husband to cancer. Marlene Townes, a recepionist at the dental practice in Princel Lane, Dedham, was charged with conspiring with her boss, Geoffrey O’Sullivan, to
ALE lovers raised their glasses to toast the start of this year’s beer festival. The five-day celebration, now in its 24th year, welcomed its first barrel-load of visitors to Colchester Arts Centre on Tuesday. It is expected to attract thousands of
AN annual beer festival opened with sober warnings for the future of the pub trade. Publicans and campaign groups voiced their concerns at the decline of the community pub at the launch of Colchester Beer Festival. One publican took
A BLAZE has destroyed a factory, boats and other buildings. Residents were ordered to stay inside by a police helicopter as toxic smoke billowed from a factory in Esplanade East in Maylandsea. Staff were evacuated before the building
TRACK replacement work is improving services on the London to Colchester line, according to Essex Rail Users’ Federation. More than nine out of ten trains serving the area ran on time last month. The figures are even more impressive
PLANS for a Colchester Institute-run vocational centre in Maldon have moved a step closer, with the submission of a planning application. The Primrose Meadow site has been chosen as the preferred option, despite objections from residents. The application
A quick-thinking bank manager saved bank staff from being held hostage by armed robbers. The woman, identified locally as Rita, arrived at Barclays Bank, in Yorick Road, West Mersea, with two other women at about 8.25am yesterday. She
