News in Thurrock

UNION activists bidding to highlight working practices at Amazon distribution centres - including the one in Tilbury - took to Grays High Street today (Wednesday, 28 July).

Not only were they campaigning for workers' rights, they also turned their attention to the processes of price gouging, when businesses heavily inflate the price of products or services that are in high-demand, saying that Amazon has been at the forefront of the practice during the Covid-19 pandemic.

OFFICERS from Essex Police's Business Crime Reduction team have spent several days in Grays talking to business owners around their concerns and offering support, which they hope will take the form of a new partnership process.

The team is made up of three officers who endeavour to communicate with the businesses and provide support, and an analyst who can help identify trends of crime so that areas can be targeted to prevent crime and ensure justice.

THERE has been a significant increase in trade at DP World''s London Gateway port in the first half of 2021.

Between January and June this year DP World's logistics hub at London Gateway saw throughput of the equivalent of 888,000 20 foot containers (TEU), a more than 23 per cent increase on the previous half year record record set in 2020.

THURROCK Council has claimed that its response to the submission of a petition containing more than 4,000 signatures objecting to the closure of the Thameside Complex (and Thameside Theatre) has been misreported.

In the wake of widespread social media comment after members of the group campaigning to save the venue said the council had responded to the petition submission by saying it was not recognised as a legitimate document that might trigger a council debate on the issue, Thurrock Nub News reported on the public disquiet – and reflected some of the criticism of senior Conservative councillors, including the allegation that they were 'cowards' for not debating the issue.

A LAND sale by Thurrock Council is reported to have been halted following investigative work by one of its councillors who believe the authority has no right to sell of the site which she believes was bequested for the local community.

Earlier this month Thurrock Nub News reported on the fact that Chadwell St Mary councillor Sara Muldowney was calling on the council not to proceed with the sale of land land off Cole Avenue in her ward which had been nodded through by members of he council's cabinet.

A NEW intake of more than 120 trainee doctors will help the local hospitals continue to provide excellent and safe care for all its patients.

After completing medical school, junior doctors have to complete a two-year foundation programme at hospitals, where they experience multiple areas of practice. The first year doctors are known as F1s and the second years as F2s.

WHILE most of the remaining Covid restrictions may have been lifted, NHS staff in Thurrock are continuing to deliver a vaccination service in the borough.

Five days of walk-in vaccinations are coming to Aveley, Stanford-le-Hope, Tilbury and Corringham next week for anyone over 18 years of age.

IF watching today's medal-winning GB dressage team sparked your interest in the event, then you can see it for real at an event in Thurrock later next month.

The Orsett Showground will play host to an August Bank Holiday Charity Horse and Dog Show featuring dressage among other displays on Saturday, 28 August.

THURROCK Council has rejected names on a petition signed by thousands of people calling for the authority to think again about closing the Thameside Complex, including the Thameside Theatre, in Grays.

At last week's meeting of the full council a paper petition containing around 100 signatures and links to an online petition containing more than 4,000 names were handed in by local campaigners, who made an impassioned plea to councillors.

A FORMAL application has now been submitted to Thurrock Council to build up to 750 new homes on the site of an airfield in rural Thurrock.

The airfield is located adjacent to the A128 (Brentwood Road) between Orsett and Bulphan.