PARTYING with movie star Lindsey Lohan is a small price to pay when success strikes. For Colchester band the Amberblacks, a 12-gig tour of the east coast of America proved such a huge success, that even when the band interrupted a hip-hop night in Harlem
LOVERS of folk are in for a treat at Acousticity next week. On November 14, Aussie songstress Lisa Fitzgibbon and her band, the Power Folk Quartet, will perform contemporary folk at the Headgate Theatre, Colchester. Currently writing her fifth album
HAVING played pretty much every other venue in the area, it may be of some surprise Megson have never played the Colchester Arts Centre before. Well that all changes when they take to the Church Street venue's stage next Monday. Megson is a partnership
AN intimate evening of laid-back blues and Americana is promised this week. On Friday, the High Barn, in Great Bardfield, is presenting a double-bill of solo bluesmen, acclaimed Californian singer, guitarist and songwriter Guy Tortora and Essex's
STALLHOLDERS are petitioning against moves to scrap or change Braintree market. More than 1,000 traders and shoppers have signed a petition aiming to keep Braintree market as it is. It comes after Braintree Council asked the public for ideas to improve
POLICE have launched an investigation into the treatment of children at a primary school. Headteacher Stuart Livingstone has already been suspended from Coppins Green School in Clacton by the chairman of governors following complaints that pupils were
FOUR trains were cancelled on a line that reopened three days ago. The route between Manningtree and Harwich was closed when the track moved due to a landslide near Wrabness in October 21. It reopened on Tuesday, six days earlier than
POSTAL strikes have been called off just hours before they were due to start. Essex workers were due to join 24-hour walkouts tomorrow(Friday) and Monday, but a deal was thrashed out at the last minute to end the row over jobs, pay and pensions
CONCERNS were raised “little boxes for people to live in” could be built, rather than communities, during discussions over plans to build thousands more houses in Colchester. The East of England Regional Assembly is drawing up a development
Statistics famously can be interpreted in many ways. Thus, when statistics about education within Clacton and Harwich come out, educationalists rush to defend themselves. Actually, we do quite well and it is circumstances that cause the apparent
Your coverage on November 2 rightly reflected our concerns about health services in north-east Essex over the next few years. However, your headlines, eg “£40m hospital crisis”, “Trust faces £40m cash void”, and articles did not reflect fully
I am very pleased that the review by Sir Thomas Legg has resulted in Tory MP Bernard Jenkin being asked to return over £60,000 he claimed for renting his sister-in-law’s house, which is situated over 60 miles outside London. This money is taxpayers
NEARLY 1,000 people ventured into Great Notley Country Park when it was transformed into a cursed village. Teenagers and grown men screamed as they made their way through six specially-constructed mazes where ghoulish characters jumped out at them.
A DISPUTE with a parish council over a fence could cost a surveyor about £50,000. Ian Keath’s row with East Bergholt Parish Council became so acrimonious, at one point he was arrested for chopping down two trees he believed were on his land. The police
YOU can have your funny bone tickled tonight, as the Comedy Club comes to Colchester. The monthly event, at the Weston Homes Community Stadium, will feature MC Kevin McCarthy, known as the “Ad Lib Expert”, Steve Gribbin and headliner Colin Cole. McCarthy
INDIAN classical vocalist Swati Natekar will enchant audiences with a special concert tomorrow. Swati will tell the story of a girl’s journey from being born into a traditional classical musical family in a sleepy Indian town, to the commercial Bollywood
PRIME Minister Gordon Brown has pledged to look into the planned closure of two Colchester secondary schools. Colchester MP Bob Russell raised the proposed closure of Alderman Blaxill and Thomas Lord Audley schools during Prime Minister’s Questions
A HEADTEACHER has been suspended following allegations that he put children in a “cupboard”. Coppins Green Primary School head Stuart Livingstone, and one other member of staff, were suspended from their positions by the school’s chair of governors
A PENSIONER was taken to hospital after his car ploughed through a hedge and into a garage. The accident happened in Mell Road, Tollesbury, at its junction with Wycke Lane. The silver BMW ended up demolishing the garage wall. Firefighters
COLCHESTER Council is forging ahead with plans to lower the speed limit in neighbourhoods and villages – despite concerns about the cost, legality and feasibility of enforcing them. Greenstead, High Woods and Colchester town centre could become
MORE than 130 houng players have taken part in a football tournament to celebrate the life of a schoolboy who died two years ago. Alexander Ramsdale-Launder was 13 when he died after his bicycle was in collision with a bus in Layer Road, Colchester,
THIS impressive-looking guy is due to go up in flames on the bonfire at Colchester’s biggest fireworks display tonight (Thursday). Judy Alden, who made the guy with husband, Bernard, is pictured with grandson Toby Alden, three when the dummy
A SPECIAL meeting of a parish council has been called to discuss plans to transform village land into football pitches. Little Oakley Memorial Club submitted a planning application to Tendring Council last month, to turn a horse paddock, on Lodge Road
TWO men whose mum was seriously injured in a road crash have thanked wellwishers for being a “tower of strength”. Lyn Salter, 56, remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital, after she was hit by a car, in Gosfield, on September 22. Two cars
A TEAM of 40 Colchester builders is at the forefront of a £34million project to build a luxury spa. Hutton Construction is working on the new complex, which will include 100 guest rooms and 87 treatment rooms. It will employ 250 local people when it
Roy Keane has admitted he was “hurt” by Ipswich Town’s abysmal opening to the season. Town went 14 matches without a win before beating Derby 1-0 on Saturday and are still bottom of the Coca-Cola Championship. Keane insists Town will not fall back into
FC CLACTON manager David Coyle admitted being a proud man after his side’s midweek demolition of Brantham Athletic. The Seasiders won 3-0 in a First Division Knockout Cup tie at the Rush Green Bowl on Tuesday. Matt Waters, Karl Andrade and Mark White
In safe hands. U’s goalkeeper coach Ademola Bankole rates Ben Williams as the best shot-stopper in Coca-Cola League One. Williams has been in eye-catching form for Colchester United this season. The 27-year-old has made a big impact for the U’s since
THE children of a murdered woman have appealed for information to catch her killer, 35 years after she died. Josephine Backshall, 39, went missing after leaving her home, in Maldon, for an appointment in Witham, on October 29, 1974. Her body was found
OBJECTIONS have been lodged against a new store and flats. The East of England Co-operative Society has submitted plans for a shop, with six apartments on the first floor, at the former Fleetshield garage and workshop premises, in East Street, Coggeshall
BREATHTAKING blooms and a selection of greens were on display at a flower and vegetable show. Halstead’s Queen’s Hall hosted the town’s horticultural society event, where people showed off their work. Prizes were awarded in categories including the
A ST John Ambulance volunteer indecently assaulted a boy he met through the organisation. Toby Moncaster got to know the 12-year-old while running a training course for junior St John members outside the county, Chelmsford Crown Court heard. Moncaster
MORE than 400 years ago this very day, a Halstead postwoman’s ancestor came close to blowing up Parliament. Claire Fawkes, who lives in Sible Hedingham, doesn’t shout about the fact she is descended from the infamous Guy Fawkes. Today
THREE women are setting off on a mercy mission to help orphans and impoverished villages in one of the poorest countries in Africa. It will be the eighth visit by members of the Thorpe-based Benin Christian Support group. They will be taking suitcases
A MAN who works with youngsters who are at risk of being excluded from school has been commended at an awards ceremony. Ben Long, who works at Clacton Coastal Academy, in Jaywick Lane, Clacton, was given the runners-up prize at the Prince’s Trust Celebrate
A COLCHESTER college raised £192 by swapping red and blue for pink. Staff and students at Colchester Institute donned pink attire instead of their usual colours to raise cash for the Breast Cancer Campaign’s “wear it pink” day. Rebecca Herrett, from
