IT was a pleasure to be at the first-ever Thurrock Education Awards.

There is much to celebrate in regards to the strides being taken to improve learning within this borough.

There were 14 winning categories, but it was clear from the warmth and appreciation in the room that all 120 nominees were worthy winners in their own right.

The great and good in the borough were there to take in the evening and applaud those who have an absolutely crucial role in shaping the future success of Thurrock...namely those at the forefront of education.

Thurrock council gets a lot of stick, it comes with the territory. But well done to the authority, and the main sponsors the Port of Tilbury, for getting this absolutely spot on.

It was a fabulously attended, and professionally put together, night at the increasingly impressive Backstage Centre in Purfleet.

Those in education have a huge, and at times thankless, responsibility, to deliver.

It’s therefore only right they are celebrated when they get it right.

  • So it seems the council may have stumbled across the firms responsible for the horrendous 1,000-metre dump in Purfleet.

In amidst the debris are the names and addresses of firms who may be responsible, or may be able to identify those who are.

Let’s hope, when they are found, these companies are hit with the full force of the authority, taken to court and made to pay back the hefty cost left for honest, hard-working Thurrock taxpayers to pick up.