Maldon's Promenade Park gets new beach huts

MALDON might not be beside the seaside, but that hasn't stopped the district council installing beach huts in Promenade Park.The eight huts, available to hire 365 days a year, come equipped with electricity, cupboard space and two chairs.Chairman of Maldon District Council's community services committee, Councillor Ron Pratt, said: "The beach huts are a wonderful addition to the Promenade Park."They give our residents and visitors easy access to the facilities and a base to enjoy the...

Essex Horticulturalist given world's most expensive pumpkin seed...

THE world's most expensive pumpkin seed has been entrusted to an Essex horticulturist in the hope that he can smash more records by growing the world's largest pumpkin.The seed was bought for £1,250 at an auction in February by Thompson & Morgan horticultural director Paul Hansord and is now in the care of Matthew Oliver, a horticulturist at RHS Garden Hyde Hall.Although the price paid for this single pumpkin seed surpassed all previous records, the chance to own a potentially...

Maldon Mud Race: Organisers are hoping for the best year yet

ANTICIPATION is building ahead of one of the biggest events on the Essex calendar – the infamous Maldon Mud Race - and they're still looking for competitors.The annual event, on Sunday, May 1, attracts thousands of spectators desperate to watch 300 people make a mad dash across the Blackwater estuary at low tide.Mud Race Chairman Brian Farrington said: "We're at about 90 per cent capacity at the moment so we're still looking for people to take part."Preparation has been really...

Essex man dies after motorcycle crash in Southminster

Essex Police are appealing for information after a fatal motorcycle crash on Sunday, April 24.A police spokesperson said: "A man has died following a single vehicle road traffic collision in Southminster."Police were called at 1.30pm on Sunday April 24 to reports a blue Suzuki GSX-R1000 motorbike had left the road on the B1021 Cripplegate."The rider, a 36-year-old man from Benfleet, was taken to the Royal London Hospital but later sadly died."Police closed the road until...

​In court: Who has been in court from Chelmsford, Maldon,...

The following criminal cases were heard at Essex magistrates' courts between March 19 to 26.Sent to prisonSTEPHEN MARK COLLINS, 55, of Collingwood Road, South Woodham Ferrers, was sent to prison for six months for sending unwanted text messages and phone calls of a threatening nature to another person at Chelmsford between March 2 and 23. He was also given three months concurrent for using threatening abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause that person to believe that...

Maldon District Councillor in favour of pedestrianising high...

A MALDON councillor has said he would support pedestrianising the town's High Street as he urged town centre businesses to be "proactive" in saving it from decline.District and town councillor Michael Pearlman feels it is one of many initiatives that could help preserve the town centre in the face of developments like the Blackwater Retail Park."I am for pedestrianisation," he said."I think it would change the face of the High Street and make it more upmarket and...

Heybridge Swifts' stadium move faces increasing pressure from...

A FOOTBALL club's plans to relocate and sell off its former home for 104 homes is coming under further pressure from business owners opposed to the plans.Developer Bloor Homes and Heybridge Swifts Football Club have applied to Maldon District Council to relocate the Swifts' stadium on land near Goldhanger Road in Heybridge, funded by an estate to be built on the football club's current Scraley Road site.But, despite lengthy consultations, residents and business owners in the surrounding area are...