ricbrown3193 published Drug driver caught driving around Riverside car park handed...

A driver who was high on cannabis while driving around Riverside Ice and Leisure car park has been banned from driving for 15 months.Yianni Violaras, aged 26, of Wedhey, Harlow, was stopped by Essex Police officers on July 30 in the car park of the leisure centre while driving a Vauxhall Astra. When tested, police found that he had 6.3 micrograms of cannabis in his blood, more than the limit of 2 micrograms per litre of blood.Appearing in Chelmsford Magistrates' Court today (Tuesday, October...

WillWatkinson published ​Chelmsford City Council has no plans for all-night street light...

Chelmsford City Council have no plans to switch back on street lights in the early hours despite another Essex Council deciding to fund the switch on themselves.More than half a million streetlights across the country are turned off in the early hours to save money and reduce carbon emissions, but on Sunday October 25 Harlow decided to charge residents an additional £3.50 annually to leave them on.Chelmsford City Council leader, Roy Whitehead, told the Chronicle: "There are no plans...

New move to boost account switching

The government sets out a series of ways to make it easier for people to switch bank accounts, ahead of a major report on High Street banks.

ricbrown3193 published Maldon District Council reclaims almost £85,000 in costs...

Maldon District Council will not be involved almost £85,000 in costs incurred by the inspection of their under-fire Local Development Plan.The Planning Inspectorate agreed to write off £84,685.97 after accepting that "the procedural handling of the examination fell somewhat short of the service that they would normally seek to deliver".The examination-in-public stage of the LDP was suspended when inspector David Vickery ruled that not enough provision had been made for...

WillWatkinson published Named and shamed: a round-up of cases heard by Essex magistrates

Who has been in Chelmsford and Colchester magistrates' court this week? The full details are below.Sent to prisonMICHAEL ANTHONY FLANAGAN, 25, of Harkilees Way, Braintree, had an eight month suspended sentence implemented for failing to comply with the order made on March 26 by not attending two appointments in March and April. Suspended sentences ADAM LEE FELL, 28, of Saunders Avenue, Braintree, was given an eight week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, for causing an unknown amount of...

Essex Chronicle published Little Baddow WI fashion show raises cash for cancer charity

THE ladies of Little Baddow Women's Institute celebrated the organisation's centenary year last week with a glamorous fashion show.Member Beverley Alnwick-Baldwin organised the event in conjunction with fashion label Jacques Vert, based in the Quadrant, Chelmsford, in aid of cancer charity Macmillan.The 50-year-old mother-of-one, said: "It was a wonderful day. It was a hell of a lot of fun to watch the girls coming out in the wrong order, wearing different coloured tops too."It feels...

Ciaran_Gold published RIP Dukes Genesis 1982-2012: memories of Chelmsford's legendary...

For 30 years, Dukes Genesis played a pivotal role in shaping the nightlife of tens of thousands of people in Essex and beyond. It's been shut for more than three years now, but before the music stopped for the final time it left an indelible mark on Chelmsford nightlife scene. We've put together a few of our memories of the Duke Street haunt below. Can you add any to the list? Pat and John For many, these two doormen summed up Dukes. Rain or shine, these man mountains guarded the...

chrisdyer published Essex Police thin blue line now 'virtually non-existent' says...

The thin blue line is now "virtually non-existent", according to the chairman of Essex Police Federation, following the announcement 190 PCSOs would be cut from the force.On Tuesday Essex Police chief constable, Stephen Kavanagh and police and crime commissioner, Nick Alston, proposed that Police Community Support Officers would be reduced from 250 to 60, by April next year.Along with these plans, Essex Police also wants to shed its estate from 25 stations open to the public to 10, including the...

ricbrown3193 published Essex bellringer used FIFA video game coins to bribe underage...

AN EX-FACTORY worker and bellringer sexually abused boys as young as eight by bribing them with cash and video game currency, a court heard.Liam Cann, 22, of Goldhanger carried out his sexual activities around the county across an eight year period from 2006 to 2014, the prosecution claimed on the first morning of his trial.Cann faces a 24-count indictment involving six alleged victims, a number of whom he met while playing Xbox online.Opening the case for the prosecution in front of Judge John...