News in Basildon

A GOOD Samaritan stepped in to rescue the American motor racing dream of a Basildon teenager.

Emily Linscott is currently racing in America in the F4 US Championship but feared her season might come to an end last weekend when the engine in her car blew in practice - and she couldn't afford to replace it.

DETECTIVES investigating the murder of a man who was found injured in Northlands Park in Basildon at the weekend have made a fifth arrest and have assured residents in the area that there is no wider risk to the public.

Officers were called to the park at 1.35am on Sunday where they found a man in his 40s with a stab wound to his stomach. He was taken to hospital but later died there.

FOUR people have been arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of a man in Basildon in the early hours of this morning.

A statement from police says: "We had been called to Northlands Park at 1.35am today (Sunday 11 July) to reports of a man injured.

POLICE are appealing for anyone who saw how a vehicle was being driven following an incident on the A13.

A statement from the Essex force says: "We were called at 9.20pm on Thursday (8 July) with concerns about how a silver Ford Focus was being driven on the A13 near Basildon.

CAMPAIGNERS in Wickford have warned that a battle to save an open green space in the town is far from over and they have expressed anxiety about possible changes of mind by a leading councillor.

The Wickford Save Open Space group are concerned over what appear to be changes of mind by prominent local councillor David Harrison who joined the campaigners in opposing development of Wick Green in his election campaign but now appears to be supporting the building of a care home on the site.

RESIDENTS in Wickford are remined there is just 24 hours left to complete a survey about road safety in the town and community.

Essex County Council, working with Basildon Council and local community and accessibility groups, has been consulting on plans to re-allocate road space to make more room for everybody to safely walk and cycle in Wickford.

AS this week brought the return of International Nurses' Day (12 May), we caught up with one of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust's 31 new specialist intensive care nurses from India, who is helping treat the sickest patients in critical care.

Ditty John, a staff nurse in critical care, said: "The Trust has been really supportive of our team, and we are settling in well in our new working environment. Our teachers prepared us amazingly for the hurdle of our exams. We are all so enthusiastic and it's been great working in critical care and caring for our patients."

AN organisation that is a familiar, lifesaving sight in the skies above Basildon is celebrating a big fundraising success.

An appeal to raise funds for the new Essex & Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT) airbase at North Weald has smashed its original target, thanks to support from film and TV star Ray Winstone, the charity's celebrity patron.

LEADING Basildon councillors have welcomed the completion of four new homes, which will be available exclusively for residents waiting on the council's Homeseekers' register.

Sempra Homes, the council's house building company, has completed on the two-bed houses which have parking for residents and visitors and meet national space standards.

Motorists heading to and from the Basildon area via the A13 will face more delays and diversions this weekend.

But there is light at the end of the road widening tunnel as Thurrock Council has given an assurance the A13 road widening project is on course to be completed by the end of the year.