In today's Gazette: A stunned gardener found a Second World War bomb in a garden shed.

Tim Jackson, 40, mistook the artillery shell for a flask when he found it among rubbish at a property in Butt Road, Colchester. He fled from the garden and called the police after realising what he was holding.

* Undercover Trading Standards officers have challenged Colchester shops which do not ask for the identity of customers buying knives.

Three shops - the Range in Cowdray Avenue, Homebnase in Tollgate and Highwoods Tesco - failed to check for ID.

* Colchester has pulled out of the race to become the next UK City of Culture.

The Colchester Cultural Partnership said it felt it had a strong bid but it was not possible to meet the deadline at the end of April.

* Wedding day dreams of a grand entrance at Colchester Town Hall have been dashed by the High Street car ban.

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