News in Thurrock

THERE is currently major disruption on the kent side of the Dartford crossing following what Highways England have described as a 'structural incident' between junction 2 and 1A.

Traffic is tailing back in both directions.

A LOCAL community has rallied to thank volunteers who brighten up the area -= despite the best efforts of anti-social and unscrupulous thieves.

David Green has regularly tended to a garden area adjacent to Stanford House in East Tilbury and can often be seen tidying it, weeding and planting new flowers. He has worked alongside Cliff and Linda Musson who are also often seen hard at work.

THIS weekend brought a very special treat for a host of borough folk who received a gift package from a local charity.

The Re-engage charity, which has a thriving group of volunteers in Thurrock, supports lonely local elderly people by arranging social events, including very popular Sunday tea parties.

PUBLIC fury that the killer of a Thurrock schoolgirl who has never disclosed where or how he disposed of her body has been reawakened following a newspaper interview and the publication of a book.

Stuart Campbell, 63, was jailed for life in 2002 after being found guilty of the murder of 15-year-old East Tilbury schoolgirl Danielle Jones, but will be eligible for parole this year.

PUBLIC anger is growing about the continued failure of Thurrock Council to maintain the historic Coalhouse Fort at East Tilbury – which has now been closed since January last year.

Thurrock Nub News exclusively broke the news last year of the folding of the almost exclusively volunteer-run Coalhouse Fort Project .

DESPITE the lifting of most government-imposed Covid-19 restrictions tomorrow (19 July) the mid and South Essex Hospitals Trust is asking members of the public to continue to wear face masks on its premises and visitor times will remain restricted.

Restrictions will remain unchanged at hospital sites across the trust which includes Basildon and Thurrock Hospital, Orsett Hospital and the Thurrock Community Hospital in Grays where staff and public must continue to wear face coverings, follow social distance rules and use hand gel.

A FUNDRAISING and awareness event at a Thurrock store today proved a great success for a borough-based homeless charity.

Volunteers representing the Friends of Essex and London Homeless were at the Morrisons store in Grays today, passing on information to shoppers about the charity's work and collecting donations of food and cash.

EMERGENCY services including the air ambulance have spent Saturday afternoon and the evening dealing with a serious collision on the M25 near Thurrock.

They were alerted shortly before 2.30pm today (Saturday, 17 July), with reports two lorries had collided near junction 30, heading towards the Dartford river crossing.

RESIDENTS on a leaf-lined Thurrock Road concerned that they might miss out on replacement of felled trees have been reassured that the borough council plans to replace them.

Following the removal of a number of trees in Bradleigh Avenue in Grays residents contacted Nub News saying they feared the character of the road might be lost if replacements were not planted, and they said they had not received any indication from the council about what might happen.

AN 18 year old from Stanford-le-Hope has cut 12 inches off her hair raising more than £1,000 for the hospice charity that cared for her grandmother.

Sadie Petchey had been growing her hair for the last six years which had reached around 25 inches from root to tip before getting the big chop on 3 July.