News in Thurrock

STAFF and volunteers at Basildon & Thurrock Hospital and the associated units and hospitals in the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust will be provided with mental health and wellbeing support thanks for a £50,000 donation to the Trust's COVID-19 charity appeal.

The money will also be used to support black, Asian and minority ethnic staff who have been heavily affected during the pandemic. This £50,000 takes the total donated through NHS Charities Together to £228,000.

A ROAD in Stanford-le-Hope was closed briefly this afternoon, around 3pm, while emergency services dealt with the aftermath of a crash.

Though fire, ambulance and police were called to the scene of the two vehicle crash close to the Hassengate Medical Centre on Southend Road, no one was seriously hurt and the matter was dealt with.

A DRIVER who drove the wrong way down the A13 and drove at high speed through busy residential roads in Thurrock has escaped justice - for the moment.

But police say they are on the case and are hoping to track down the vehicle, believed to be a Ford Kuga, which at one point was being pursued by a number of police vehicles.

ATTENDING a car meet at West Thurrock has landed a man in court.

Police have recently been cracking down on problems caused by people 'cruising cars' or meeting up for gatherings of converted or 'souped-up' vehicles in the area around lakeside and have issued a number or orders prohibiting gatherings of drivers and spectators.

RESIDENTS and motorists are reminded of the latest A13 closure which will be between the A128 junction (Orsett Cock roundabout) and the A1014 junction (Stanford-le-Hope) this weekend.

The closure takes place from 9pm tomorrow (Friday, 18 September) until 5am on Monday, 21 September. Traffic will be diverted via the A1013 Stanford Road.

It was the latest incident in a long-running dispute between the company and residents over the impact of the site on the local environment.

THE Port of Tilbury has released news of two positive initiatives.

The North Sea Container Line (NCL) has confirmed that it will commence a new, direct weekly container service from Norway to the UK on 23 September when MV "Rumba" will make its first call at London Container Terminal, Tilbury.

THURROCK'S black, Asian, and minority ethnic group has arranged a meeting with the borough's senior police officer to quiz him about why black people are six times more likely to be stopped and searched and they are challenging Essex Police over their ability to report statistics.

Thurrock BME group was formed in 2018 and is led by local paster Niyi Olujobi , former councillor and borough mayor Tude Ojetola and clergyman Anthony Ashaye who oversees a church that reaches out to orphans and widows in a growing number of nations across Africa and is a representative organisation for the black and minority ethnic community within Thurrock.

ONE of the region's hospice organisations has received a £2,000 boost thanks to the Amazon fulfilment centre in Tilbury.

The donation forms part of the 'Amazon in the Community' programme, whereby the company supports the communities around its operating locations across the UK. And has been made to Havens Hospices which serves the residents of Thurrock, particularly through The J's and Little Havens centres dealing with young people children living with complex or incurable conditions and located in Thundersley.

IN the wake of yet another crash at the junction of Bradleigh Avenue and Lodge Lane in Grays - Thurock Council is to install speed cameras on the stretch of road in an attempt to cut down on the number of accidents.

Previously the council have denied that there are any issues surrounding the junction, which they reconfigured in 2018, provoking criticism from local residents and motorists that the junction was dangerous.