Archive

  • Jazz man Peter tunes up for club

    HERALDED as one of the ruling jazz saxophonists of Britain, the aptly-named Peter King is coming to north Essex. The musician has been a major influence on the UK jazz scene ever since he played at the opening of Ronnie Scott’s internationally-renowned

  • Petition urges Legion to rethink surgery proposition

    ISLANDERS campaigning to get a medical centre in West Mersea used the town’s annual carnival and an opportunity to get signatures on their petition. Resident Pat Richardson and colleagues stood with the petition at the end of the procession route, the

  • Mum hid cocaine in her kitchen cupboard

    A YOUNG mother agreed to stash cocaine in her home for someone else, because she thought it was only cannabis. The drugs were found in the top of a tall kitchen cupboard at Mary-Lou Lowe’s home in Hutchinson Close, Tiptree, on May 3, by police called

  • Jackson leaves Colchester for Notts County

    Johnnie Jackson has left Colchester United and has signed for Coca-Cola League Two leaders Notts County. The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, who joined the U's in 2006, has had his contract cancelled at the Weston Homes Community Stadium

  • Pubs - use them or lose them

    USE it or lose it. That is the stark message as pubs face up to some of the toughest times the licensed trade has known, with many in north Essex already having to call time for good. The days of the friendly boozer at the end of the road,

  • Keane swoops for two Black Cats

    Roy Keane could be about to sign two of his former Sunderland players. Carlos Edwards and Grant Leadbitter are both in talks with Ipswich regarding a possible move to Portman Road. Black Cats boss Steve Bruce confirmed that the duo are in discussions

  • Body found in hunt for missing girl

    A BODY has been found in the hunt for missing 10-year-old Stella Akanbi The youngster was playing with her friend when they both got into difficulty yesterday at 4pm. Members of the public rushed to their aid and brought one girl ashore

  • Man arrested as police raid nets class A drugs

    A LARGE quantity of what is believed to be class A drugs was seized at a house in Colchester. Operation Rough Diamond saw ten officers swoop on the home of a suspected drug dealer in Brisbane Way, Berechurch. After smashing though the door with a battering

  • Loren goes from pub quizzes to University Challenge

    JEREMY Paxman will be firing his starters for ten at a former Colchester student. Loren Parry and her team-mates from St John’s College, Oxford, have qualified for this year’s University Challenge and are preparing to put their knowledge to the test

  • Travellers weigh up move to plot in central Essex

    TRAVELLERS from the notorious Dale Farm site could move north to an industrial site near Witham. Campaigners for the illegal site in Crays Hill, near Billericay, approached Basildon Council asking for its help to relocate some of the 86 families to land

  • Neil's plan to ride on just one wheel

    A COMPANY boss who has never ridden a unicycle before is saddling up with the aim of raising £20,000 for charity. Neil Coulton, who runs Green Cartridges in Braintree plans a sponsored 30-mile unicycle ride in aid of Parc (Essex), which helps children

  • Concerns over revised care home plans

    DISPLACED residents of a Colchester care home which is scheduled for demolition might not be able to move into the build which will replace it, a councillor fears. Excelcare Equities has been given permission rebuild the Greenways Care Home, in St Filians

  • Health chiefs slash missed hospital appointments

    PATIENTS who failed to attend appointments cost Colchester hospitals £3million last year – a sum being cut by a new initiative Figures from Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust show 25,000 people did not attend appointments, each costing

  • Shameful cost of parking at our hospitals

    I have just read your article on hospital parking charges. My husband was unfortunate enough to be admitted last month. The day he was admitted it cost me £10, as it took nine hours for him to be given a bed. He was on Copford ward, with unrestricted

  • Appearance can be so deceptive

    ...I am a little confused by the letter from Barry O’Connell, who tells us he is a disability adviser, and when a blue badge is on display we have to get out of the car and go about our business. What rubbish! There is no compulsion for a disabled

  • Appearance can be so deceptive

    I would like to answer Barry O’Connell, who kindly sent advice to Blue Badge holders in the Gazette. While I agree unless the disabled person is actually leaving the car, you should not use a disabled bay, and I never have, I find his comments

  • Appearance can be so deceptive

    I would like to answer Barry O’Connell, who kindly sent advice to Blue Badge holders in the Gazette. While I agree unless the disabled person is actually leaving the car, you should not use a disabled bay, and I never have, I find his comments

  • Pedestrians as well as drivers need to change

    While I accept the idea of a 20mph speed limit in residential areas and in the town centre, I think some attention also needs to be paid to altering the behaviour of the pedestrian. I travel to and from work using either the bus, my car or bicycle

  • Personal attack a smokescreen

    You always know when politicians are losing an argument. They start personally attacking members of other political parties. I think every level-headed and even-minded person would have been outraged at the rather pathetic letter councillor

  • Hope and skills for youngsters

    RAISING young people’s aspirations is one of the main aims of the new-look Braintree College. Jim Addison, the college’s enthusiastic new interim principal has been seconded from the Colchester Institute to take charge in Braintree until the two institutions

  • Fox is relishing being at the top

    Colchester United’s players are relishing being Coca-Cola League One’s early pacesetters, according to David Fox. And the U’s midfielder and his team-mates are determined to remain top dogs. Colchester are sitting pretty at the top of the division on

  • Lambert: we deserve to be top

    Colchester United manager Paul Lambert believes his side fully deserve to be top of Coca-Cola League One. The U’s head into tomorrow night's home clash with Gillingham as the joint leaders of the division, following two league wins out of two. Colchester

  • Keane keeps his expectations high despite poor showing

    Roy Keane will not be lowering expectations this season – despite Ipswich Town only picking up one point from their opening two Championship games. The Blues were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Leicester on Saturday, having lost 2-1 at Coventry last Sunday

  • Seasiders edge horrendous encounter

    FC CLACTON sneaked into the FA Cup preliminary round but only after a ‘horrendous’ 2-1 victory at home to London APSA. The Seasiders raced into an early two-goal lead and appeared to be cruising. But they became edgy after that and finished up scraping

  • Show is a summer stunner!

    MORE than 1,000 people turned out to enjoy the Four Colnes show in Earls Colne Hundreds of exhibits were to be enjoyed at the annual event, run by the Four Colnes Horticultural Society. Speaking after Saturday’s event, on Earls Colne recreation ground

  • County estate's showpiece lakes get helping hand

    VOLUNTEERS are helping to repair 17th century lakes at a country estate. The lakes, at Marks Hall Gardens and Arboretum, near Coggeshall, are thought to have been dug by Parliamentarian troops under the command of Sir Thomas Honywood, who inherited Marks

  • Lifeboat to be relaunched after £250,000 restoration

    MORE than 100 descendants of a lifeboat crew will meet, a century after their ancestors took to the seas. The James Stevens No.14 was Walton’s lifeboat from 1900 to 1928 and is the world’s oldest surviving motor lifeboat. It returned to the town in