News in Thurrock

POLICE have issued an urgent appeal hoped to get help in tracking down a Grays man who has been missing since before Christmas.

Kieran Devlin, 33, was last seen at about 2pm on Wednesday 22 December.

AS predicted in recent flood warnings, the Thames has been in full flow and in part risen to be above some riverside paths in Grays this afternoon (Wednesday, 5 January).

The pictures attached to this story were taken around 2pm, about half an hour before the high tide mark.

A FORMER Tilbury councillor, who worked with a local company to provide funding for new defibrillators in the town, has spoken of his disappointment that Thurrock Council will not contribute to the ongoing maintenance of the lifesaving devices.

Now John Allen, is hoping a sponsor will step forward to bridge the gap.

POLICE traffic officers have mounted another operation in Thurrock, targeting vehicles on the approach to Lakeside shopping centre.

The operation on bank holiday Monday (3 January) saw 18 officers deployed in the area throughout the day, included mobile patrols and vehicle checks in the area.

PLANS for two pantomimes in Thurrock this weekend have had to be put on ice.

It was planned to stage two performances of a professional pantomime in a Thurrock village this weekend at Bulphan Village Hall on Sunday. There were be two performances of Mother Goose, the first a family panto at 3pm and the second, for adults only and renamed Mother Goosed at 7.30pm.

THURROCK Council is planning to borrow more than £15 million to part finance the demolition of half its civic offices in Grays and build 82 social housing dwellings on the site.

The overall cost of the project will be more than £26 million, of which £10 million is already in the council's housing revenue account from the sale of previously council-owned properties.

COMMUNITY-minded residents in Stanford-le-Hope have raised an impressive amount of money for a local life-saving charity.

In the run-up to Christmas residents on the Stanford and Maple Park estate in the town once again organised a spectacular lights display that attracted hundreds of visitors to the area to wander through a truly spectacular series of lights and festive displays.

IT may be a new year but there were familiar scenes at the Dartford crossing this morning when a breakdown on the QEII bridge caused significant delays.

A van broke down between junction 31, the A1306 and junction 1A, the A206 to Dartford around 9am (Tuesday, 4 January) and congestion on the clockwise carriageway stretched back beyond junction

RESIDENTS raised the alert this afternoon (Tuesday, 4 January) after almost the entire width of a busy link road was covered in standing water.

At least one vehicle was damaged when it hit a raised area that was covered by the water, while others more cautiously negotiated the tricky stretch of road on the approach to a corner of the A128 (Brentwood Road) just outside Chadwell St Mary.

A SEVERE flood warning was issued today alerting residents along the Thames that high tides pose a risk.

Among areas highlighted as most at risk today (Tuesday, 4 January) under the red warning been issued is Coalhouse Fort and the surrounding marshland in East Tilbury.