News in Thurrock

MYSTERY about responsibility and who will take action to help new homeowners devastated by a botched luxury apartment development in Grays continues.

Pullman Court has been a troubled site since day one.

EMOTIONAL tributes were paid in court today to the 65-victim of a drug and drink driver - whose actions have had a devastating effect on an East Tilbury family who are now reflecting on the fact he will walk out of prison in another two and a half years.

Miss Barbara Murray, 65, never regained consciousness after being hit by a vehicle driven by Liam Jones-Bell, now 27, on 16 May, 2018.

AFTER a year's absence, the Hardie Park Community Christmas Day meal in Stanford-le-Hope is about to make a comeback.

Volunteers are now being sought to join those who will help put the special festive event together, as the Friends of Hardie Park's Rob Groves explains: "After a year off we've decided to organise our lovely Christmas Day meal for some of Thurrock's loneliest residents again.

FIREFIGHTERS were called to an industrial building in Romford Road, Aveley, this morning where a storage unit was ablaze.

Grays fire station watch manager Lee Hollingworth said: "We estimate the fire had been burning for around four or five hours before it was discovered, so by the time we arrived it had almost starved itself of oxygen and burned itself out.

MEMBERS of the cast of Thurrock's annual pantomime - which begins this Friday (29 November) were out and about in Grays today (Tuesday) promoting the show.

Led by 'Dame' Luke Coldham, the cast from Dick Whittington were in Morrisons where they drew laughter from shoppers and staff alike.

THE Port of Tilbury has scooped the inaugural National Infrastructure Planning Association Award for "Best Project" with its plans to create the new Tilbury2 port.

The judges praised the team behind the Development Consent Order Process (DCO) dealing with the new port, which is currently under construction and due to open in 2020.

MORE than one in four women in Thurrock are failing to take part in smear testing – a figure that has been flagged up by NHS England and NHS Improvement in the East of England.

Using the iconic celebrity Jade Goody to catch public attention, the groups say ten years after her death from cervical cancer thousands of women in the eastern region are missing smear tests.

YOUNG people are being invited to shine a light on their future and a journey to a career in the creative industries with the National College Creative Industries in Purfleet.

The college will host open evenings on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 December, from 4pm to 6pm.

WITH fears that Brexit will bring social unrest, climate change will result in environmental disasters and cyber-attacks capable of crippling entire towns, health authorities in Essex are reviewing their emergency response plans.

Board papers published ahead of a Thurrock Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) meeting show that health professionals will discuss a plan that outlines their response in the event of a major traffic incident, a cyber-attack or even a nuclear disaster.

MAGISTRATES were left with little alternative but to remand an Albanian man in custody after he appeared in court but could only produce a litany of false information.

He was brought before the bench manacled to a security guard after being charged after officers found drugs in a car they had stopped and searched in Basildon.