News in Thurrock

THURROCK Council has announced local parking will be free every Saturday in December for the third year running.

The initiative, which kicks off tomorrow (Saturday, 7 December) includes all council-owned car parks, as well as its pay and display on-street parking.

POLICE mounted a search after a woman reported that someone tried to take her child while they were in Grays town centre.

Local resident Mica Lauren Frith reported the incident which happened when she and her sister were shopping on Wednesday (3 December), accompanied by baby Elsie.

ONE of the biggest days in the Tilbury calendar is here.

Friday 6 December will see the town's annual Christmas lights switch on, with live performances in civic square, a fun fair and the arrival of Father Christmas.

MORE details of a huge new theme park opposite Thurrock have been revealed.

The London Resort theme park is to be built on the Swanscombe Peninsula opposite Grays and it is expected to draw many employees from the borough.

MORE details of a huge new theme park opposite Thurrock have been revealed.

The London Resort theme park is to be built on the Swanscombe Peninsula opposite Grays and it is expected to draw many employees from the borough.

STAFF at a Thurrock superstore are helping make Christmas a bit brighter for disadvantaged youngsters.

They are hosting a collection point at Morrisons in Grays where shoppers are invited to buy and donate toys.

ST Margaret's church in Stanford-le-Hope was aglow with the spirit of Christmas this evening.

Youngsters from Second Stanford Scouts celebrated their annual Christingle Service at the church.

A RIGHTS group has warned the privacy of Thurrock residents could be at risk due to the borough council's use of a computer system that aims to predict who needs social care, who may become a victim of crime and who could end up sleeping on the streets.

The computer system was developed by a private company called Xantura and Thurrock has spent the past four years using it to predict if a child is at risk of abuse so social services can intervene early.

A MEMORIAL flame created by an East Tilbury stone masonry company in partnership with Thurrock Council will appear in a national art exhibition to mark 75 years of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Madstone LTD, which designed and installed the Holocaust Memorial in Palmers Rest Gardens, Grays, put together the successful submission chosen as one of 75 flames to represent each year since the liberation of Auschwitz. The flames will be displayed in an exhibition and unveiled at the UK ceremony for Holocaust Memorial Day in London on Monday, 27 January 2020.

EAST Thurrock United FC are mourning the death of club patriarch Ben Bennett after he lost a year-long fight against cancer.

Mr Bennett died at his home in the early hours of Wednesday morning, having spent the past few months bravely battling against all the odds.