In today's Gazette: Nearly half of all crimes reported to police in Colchester are not taken any further, new figures have revealed.

The Gazette has discovered within a month of victims telling police of the incident, investigations are suspended in about 50 per cent of cases.

* The Chief Constable of Essex Police Jim Barker-McCardle, 51, will stand down before the end of his contract.

Mr Barker-McCardle has two years left to serve. He said his decision has nothing to do with the election of the new Police and Crime Commissioner.

* A woman who battled disability all her life had died just four months after getting engaged.

Sarah Britton, 41, who was engaged to Kevin Howe, was born with spina bifida. She died from a chest infection with led to pneumonia.

* Colchester's new bus station is up and running.

The temporary bus station off Queen Street closed on Saturday night and the new station in Osborne Street opened yesterday.

* A charity which helps the blind says Colchester has the second most cluttered shopping street in the UK.

For more on these and other great stories, see today's Gazette. There is always more in the paper than there is online.