Archive
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Barrett: The time is right to move from Roots Hall
Defender Adam Barrett may love Southend United's current Roots Hall home more than most, but even he knows the time is right to move to Fossetts Farm. Southend Council backed the Shrimpers' plans to build a new 22,000 capacity ground at Fossetts Farm
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Smith closes in on County deal
Jay Smith is close to sealing his switch from Southend United to Notts County. The 25-year-old midfielder - who has been plagued by injuries during his stint with the Shrimpers - has spent the last two months on loan at the Magpies. And Smith is
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Second Hayes bid knocked back
Southend United have failed in a second bid for Barnsley striker Paul Hayes. The offer, which is believed to be £100,000, has been rejected by the Tykes, who are rumoured to want at least double for the 23-year-old. 2nd Hayes bid knocked back Hayes
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Football: Benson signs new deal
Southend-based Dagenham & Redbridge striker Paul Benson has agreed a new deal with the Conference leaders. Benson has signed a 12-month extension to his current contract to keep him at Victoria Road until June 2009. The 25-year-old joined Daggers
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Angling: Golden peg goes with Noakes
Matchman Mick Noakes has managed to beat the jinx of the Gloucester Park golden peg to collect a bumper £335 payout at Sunday's Gloucester Park Open. His winning 41lb 4oz haul rewarded him with the £110 day pools, and £225 from one of the golden peg
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No Swan song yet for gifted George
Pop hopeful, George Swan was cheated of his shot at stardom by illness as a teenager. But now he has been given a second chance - after winning a national competition. George Swan, 26, has beaten more than 1,000 other singers to win a competition
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Kids’ despair over waterlogged pitch
Torrential wind and rain has left a football team for children with special needs with nowhere to train. Bowers and Pitsea Junior Football Club's pitch, off Kenneth Road, Basildon, suffers from poor drainage and was heavily waterlogged by recent rain
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Spink cleared in row over dinner parties
Castle Point MP Bob Spink has been cleared of any wrongdoing over a fundraising dinner at the House of Commons. The Tory MP was caught up in a row over whether he had breached rules on using Commons facilities for political fundraising after he booked
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Residents furious after lease of land
A row has broken out among Canvey residents after Castle Point Council rented public land to a resident - complete with a street lamp. Canvey Independent councillors say they are outraged the Tory run council is "getting rid of the family silver" by
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Kate prepares to reveal her gentler side
Call Kate O'Mara a ball-breaking vamp and she'll laugh out loud. The actress relishes playing high powered, no-nonsense women, with a glare fit to melt an iceberg. Torrid roles in TV's Howard's Way, Dynasty and Bad Girls helped Kate corner the market
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Sowing the seeds of a sensory experience
A sensory garden will be created for deaf people in Basildon, thanks to a £6,000 grant from The Echo. The Royal National Institute for the Deaf received the grant from the Gannett Foundation, a charity fund set up by the Echo's parent company. Emma
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Work on seafront hotel is stopped
Work has stopped on the prestigious new Ambassadors Hotel on Southend seafront because of a wrangle between developers and the council. The four star hotel was seen as a major part of the redevelopment of the old gasworks site on Eastern Esplanade
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Tractor death: Driver not to blame
A tractor driver has been acquitted of dangerous driving after a wheel flew off the farm trailer he was pulling and killed an elderly woman. Lewis Windust, 65, from New Zealand, had pleaded not guilty to the offence, which happened as he was driving
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High Street paving break-up
The jinx which seems to keep blighting Southend High Street has struck again. Workers had to be called out yesterday, after a burst water main damaged the new paving. The water damage was the latest in a string of problems to affect the High Street
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Why tough guy Dean ran like the wind
While most of the country wrapped up warm and tried to avoid the raging storms that swept the country last week, one fitness fantastic was pictured in the Echo bravely battling the weather. Dean Johnson, 33, who runs the Personal Training Studio in
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Meeting our ‘son’ in Africa
A couple finally met the African teenager they have sponsored for years during a once-in-a -lifetime trip to his home country. Peter and Debra Ware, of Leigh, travelled to Mali in West Africa to meet Mahamadou, 13, where they were treated to a traditional
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Future of Coryton decided soon
The future of the Coryton oil refinery is expected to be decided within a couple of weeks. Last June, BP announced plans to sell the site, which processes 172,000 barrels of crude oil a day and employs around 540 permanent staff and numerous contractors
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Civil servants plan to hit the picket line
Thousands of civil service workers across south Essex have voted to strike in protest at job cuts, pensions and privatisation. Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union will be staging a 24-hour walkout on January 31. About 2,500 workers
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My view: ‘No’ vote would be a huge own goal
I am a season card- carrying, shirt-wearing, flag-flying Southend United fan. For more than 40 years, since the age of five, I have been a Blues supporter, literally, I guess, watching thousands of games. However, I do not feel I have the right
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Snow causes rail delays
Passengers on the One Railway line suffered severe delays between Southend Victoria and London Liverpool Street this morning. Bosses at the railway said the problem was due to points failures at Stratford, Liverpool Street, Ilford and Brentwood.
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Updated: Children rescued from blaze
Quick-thinking carers rescued three youngsters from a fire at a residential children's home and took action to stop the fire spreading. Firefighters have praised staff at Trinity Lodge, in Trinity Avenue, Westcliff, for their quick actions when they
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No rain, no gain
The mystery man pictured pounding through the Southend surf and rain at the height of last week's gale has been identified as fitness instructor Dean Johnson. While the rest of the world was cowering indoors, Dean viewed the horrible conditions as a
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Bail hostel lessons to be learned
Chelmsford Crown Court has heard how multiple-offender Rory Griffin raped a lone woman in Northlands Park, Pitsea. At the time this sickening crime was committed, Griffin was based at the nearby Felmores bail hostel. He is the third Felmores inmate in
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Town can't sustain two main shopping centres
It is ridiculous to consider building a new shopping centre at the site of the new football stadium. Southend cannot have two main shopping centres. All the work that is going towards revamping Victoria Plaza will be wasted if the new shopping centre
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Family homeless after fire
A family has been left homeless after one of the children started a fire in a bedroom. Southend firefighters were called to the terraced house in Browling Avenue yesterday (Tuesday) morning and managed to limit the damage to the bedroom and smoke damage
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Give travellers permanent sites
There is a need for traveller sites but these should be permanent - these people have to live somewhere. The Government and councils are at fault for not providing proper facilities, but travellers should not have been allowed to build on green belt
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Slow uptake on units at Kursaal
The new owner of Southend's Kursaal amusement centre has admitted it has found attracting new tenants for the seafront icon "frustratingly slow". William Woodwood-Fisher, director of London property company Trehaven, which bought the Kursaal from former
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Seafront death was not suspicious - police
The family of a man found dead along Southend seafront were due to formally identify his body. Police believe he was a 62-year-old man from Hornchurch, but would not say why he was in the town. His name is likely to be made public today. The
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Commons call for Dale Farm inquiry
An MP demanded the Government study an Echo investigation during a rousing House of Commons debate yesterday. Billericay Tory MP John Baron called on Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Local Government, to order an inquiry into the Dale Farm illegal
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Big Brother needs parental control
I have never seen the TV show Big Brother but have read the media reports. It seems to me voyeurism, once the preserve of the amoral, is now acceptable in modern society. Other reports state 900,000 children watch the programme, presumably with the approval
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Updated: Convicted rapist may never walk free
A convicted sex attacker who raped his victim while bragging she was not his first was caged for at least 12 years and told he might never walk free. Rory Griffin, 23, had been out of prison just 13 days after serving a five-year sentence for raping
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Hotel plans for Bell site binned for flats
Ambitious plans to revamp a landmark building in the heart of Leigh no longer include a hotel, it has been revealed. Proposals to revamp the old Bell Hotel in Leigh Hill as a "boutique hotel" have been ditched. Instead, developers have tried to address
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Building bias flatly denied
Leigh has not been getting more new flats than other parts of Southend, according to its town clerk. Southend needs to create an average of 300 new homes a year until 2021, to meet housing targets set by the Government. During the past five years, 11
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Burglary at chiropodist
A burglar broke into a chiropodist's and stole £250 cash. The thief got in to Footstop, in Rectory Grove, Leigh, after smashing the glass in the front door.
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Motorcyclist dies following crash
A motorcyclist died following a collision with other vehicles on his way back home. The 39-year-old Southend man had just left work at the Purdeys Industrial Estate in Rochford when the accident happened at 5.10pm yesterday (Tuesday). He had just overtaken
