DAGENHAM rapper Devlin will make a guest appearance at Escape nightclub in Colchester tomorrow. It’s been quite a year for the 21-year-old, who has been a fledging force on the underground UK grime scene for the past seven years. Born in Dagenham in
AN elderly woman has thanked good Samaritans who came to her rescue after she suffered a stroke in the street. Maria Coote, 81, said she was grateful for the help she was given after being taken ill at a bus stop in freezing conditions. Her daughter
An elderly woman was treated for smoke inhalation after a house fire in Wivenhoe. The blaze broke out at the woman's Heath Road home at 7pm today. She was given oxygen at the scene but did not require hospital treatment. It is
MATT CARDLE has lost his relaxed attitude, has “the bit between his teeth” and really wants to win the X Factor, according to his parents, Jenny and David. The final takes place over the weekend and the 27-year-old, from Little Maplestead, knows his
STUDENTS as young as sixteen from Colchester were caught up in a violent riot in London during a 12 hour stand off with police over education cuts. Condemned by police as one of the most violent protests in the past decade, the riots saw Prince Charles
ANGER over the decision to bring in controversial education cuts and a hike in tuition fees could spell the end of Colchester MP Bob Russell’s career, say student leaders. Despite the fact Mr Russell voted against the cuts during a parliamentary vote
YOUNG film-makers have won gold in their Olympic bid. The teenagers from Colchester scooped the best documentary prize in a national search for films to be screened at London 2012. It means their work, entitled Phoenix, will be shown at Olympic venues
CONTROVERSIAL plans for new and expanded quarries which appeared on a council’s preferred list are now going out for public consultation. Campaigns to stop new mineral developments in areas including Frating have already began but Essex County Council
A THIEF snatched a woman’s handbag while she was loading her car with shopping. Police said the victim was in Tesco’s car park at Hythe, Colchester, and filling up the car when a man went up to her and asked for the time. He then pushed her aside and
A POPULAR venue for one of the region’s biggest fundraising events has been scrapped in a reorganisation. Essex University’s Wivenhoe campus has been dropped as one of the venues for next year’s Race For Life. Instead, Cancer Research UK wants to stage
A SHOPKEEPER who has been dressing Clacton’s women for almost 40 years is planning to retire next summer. Jacqueline Hammond started out selling bridal wear in 1972 and has announced she will close the Frock Shop, in Rosemary Road, by September. The
WHEN a letter landed on my desk last month, appealing for volunteers to take up bellringing in Mistley I was intrigued. I’d wanted to give it a try since a university friend revealed she regularly rang with a group in Devon. So I arranged with Lawford
I see Colchester High Street is to be closed on Sunday for what is being termed as the Winter Market. Really, this is a Christmas market and I am not happy with the fact the council has given into political correctness and called it a Winter
I was very pleased to see Keith Henderson’s letter in Monday’s paper, headlined: “Carswell and Co’s cruel cuts”. What especially pleased me was to see the Parliamentary spokesman for the Clacton Labour Party and his allies are going to “work
We can only hope the Tories at County Hall do a better job at protecting vulnerable children when they sell off the children’s homes than they did when care homes for the elderly were sold off. Despite assurances that past mistakes will not be
FARMERS claim their traditional way of life is being eroded as smaller farms struggle to survive. A quarter of farming households are living below the poverty line as they can not make enough money from their land, and many are forced to find second
COLCHESTER residents are recycling more, new figures reveal. A performance report shows a little over 42 per cent of the rubbish collected by Colchester Council between April and September was recycled. The figure is slightly above the 41 per cent target
In the comprehensive spending review, the Chancellor announced the Government would be removing the mobility component of disability living allowance for those in residential care homes. Disability charities and organisations, such as Mencap
Colchester Friends of the Earth applauds the long-awaited car-free High Street, but in our response to the consultation, we have pressed for the car ban to include from 8am to 10am, to reduce peak hours congestion around the town centre. On
HOSPITAL services could be brought back in-house as a trust looks at what to do with its £70 million facilities budget. For several years roles such as portering, gardening and other building and site management roles have been outsourced to a private
MATT Cardle will sing with chart-topper Rihanna in the X-Factor final. Matt, who is from Little Maplestead, will perform with the superstar as part of the duets section of the final tomorrow night. Christina Aguilera will be singing with Rebecca
A DEPRAVED cabbie has been sentenced to nine-and-a-half years behind bars, after pleading guilty to 20 charges of indecently assaulting young children over almost 30 years. Graham White, 54, of Chelmsford, who used to work for Allied Radio
Colchester United manager John Ward has stressed the importance of his side winning their home games, if they are challenge for promotion this season. The U’s entertain Yeovil Town tomorrow in npower League One, in what will be their fourth successive
Tom Williams wants to make his move to Colchester United permanent. The experienced defender this week extended his loan spell at the U’s from Bristol City for a third and final month. His six-month contract at the Robins expires next month, leaving
STUDENTS marching against the Government’s proposed university fees hike were “peaceful, quite noisy and good humoured”, according to police. Officers monitoring the demonstration in Colchester yesterday said the operation had been successful
AN ambulance crew got stuck in with their vehicle’s fire extinguisers after spotting a house on fire on their way back from a callout. Student paramedic Karen Dodman and emergency medical technician Shane Hodgson, were returning from a call when they
MORE than 90 youngsters were screened for heart problems in memory of two men who lost their lives to heart conditions. The event was held thanks to the Marcus Armstrong Fund, which started after the 28-year-old Dovercourt golfer died suddenly in 2006
