News in Thurrock

POLICE are looking to identify a woman who was assaulted while walking through Grays High Street.

She was assaulted by a man at 1.30pm on 13 December.

A WARD councillor has added his weight to calls for more action to be taken to try and restore the image of Grays High Street which has become blighted by drug-taking and trafficking, drunken behaviour and trading of illicit goods.

After several days of disorder which went unchecked in the build up to Christmas the chairman of the neighbourhood residents association, Richard Suttling blasted the authorities for their lack of consistent action.

THURROCK Council says it is working with partners in a bid to stop flooding which has blighted on the borough's busiest roundabouts.

Recent heavy rainfall has frequently seen the roundabout at the Tilbury end of the Dock approach Road (A1089) many inches deep in water, at times making it impassable for cars. Adjacent roads are also regularly flooded.

CONFLICTING impressions of the effectiveness of town centre policing in Grays have prompted a withering attack by a community leader who says the state of the area 'defies belief'.

On the day that town centre policing team leader Sgt Ben Forbes revealed he had been honoured for his work - and the Essex police force announced they had take action to stop a known thief operating in Grays, the chairman of a town centre residents' group weighed in to say it was time to face the truth.

A MEMBER of Thurrock Council's staff has been recognised in the New Year's Honours List.

Natalie Smith (better known in Thurrock under her maiden name Natalie Warren), the Community Development and Equalities Manager for the council, has been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to the community in Thurrock.

A NEW police officer serving in Grays has become something o f a pin-up boy for the Essex force's recruitment campaign.

As it searches to add new officers to its ranks, the force is talking to new recruits about what motivated them to join and Dan has stepped into the limelight:-

A COUNCILLOR has spoken of his sadness in having to question the action – but is asking whether there is any point in the local authority throwing good money after bad and replacing playground equipment that is being repeatedly vandalised.

Cllr John Allen, who represents the Tilbury St Chads ward, says plans by the council to spend £6,000 replacing swings that have been vandalised are laudable but agrees with officers that unless there is a sea change respect for community facilities there is little point in keep doing it.

ONE of Thurrock's community champions has paid tribute to local residents who made Christmas extra special for 16 people who would otherwise been alone.

On Christmas Day the Friends of Hardie Park in Stanford-le-Hope opened the site's café to provide a Christmas meal.

A CONVICTED shoplifter will face a ban from entering Grays Town centre When she comes out of prison.

Laura Reid was jailed for six months at Basildon Crown Court on Monday, 4 November after admitting three counts of shoplifting, two counts of failing to surrender to bail, breaching a community order and possession of cannabis.

A GRAYS man faces sentencing at Basildon Crown Court in the new year after admitting assaulting three men earlier this month (December).

The offences meant he was in breach of suspended sentence set after he was found guilty of possessing an offensive weapon and assaulting an emergency worker.