Shop window smashed for second time in as many weekends

About 20 people were involved in the brawl, which saw Haart of Rayleigh estate agent’s having its window smashed and a man taken to hospital.

The incident, which happened in the early hours of Sunday, comes just a week after a man was thrown through the window of the Dorothy Perkins store in the High Street.

One woman, who asked not to be named, said trouble flared when a group came out of the Linx nightclub.

She said: “My partner is a taxi driver and saw them crossing the road from Linx nightclub towards where they had cars parked by Stacey’s Auction House.

“They all started fighting and someone was pushed into a window.

They continued fighting on the corner of Websters Way.

“At one point, one of them got knocked into the road and almost got run over by a car which screeched to a halt. After that they all piled into about four cars.

“I’m a pensioner and that’s what’s so frightening – I didn’t really sleep that night because it preys on your mind and, when you get older, it affects you.

“It’s very concerning for all the residents here.”

The fight broke out in Eastwood Road, off High Street, at 3.05am on Sunday, with a man in his twenties, from Leigh, later being taken to hospital with injuries to his hand.

A trail of blood was seen leading around the corner to Thomson travel agent in High Street, which had to close for the entire day as staff were unable to enter the building, due to the large quantities of blood covering the door.

A police spokesman said: “A shop window was also damaged and a man in his twenties from Leigh was taken to hospital with injuries to his hand.

“Anyone with information is asked to call Rayleigh local policing team on 101.”

The East of England Ambulance Service was called and sent a rapid response vehicle, but the man is understood to have been taken to hospital by police. At 2.20am on June 13, police were called to Rayleigh High Street after a man was thrown through the window of the Burton and Dorothy Perkins store, leading to an 18-year-old from Leigh and a 24-year-old from Billericay being taken to hospital.

CLOSURE OF BASILDON NIGHTSPOTS PUSHING CLUBBERS ELSEWHERE

THE closure of the popular “Bas Vegas” complex of nightclubs may have led to an influx of new visitors to Rayleigh.

The complex, which included Liquid, Envy, JJ’s and New York New York nightclubs, closed on February 28 to clear the way for new restaurants and a soft play centre.

Just weeks after closing, bulldozers arrived at Basildon’s Festival Leisure Park to begin demolition work on the former “superclub”.

American-themed restaurant chain Coast to Coast, which has 12 branches across Britain, is one of three businesses signed up for the revamp.

Club operator Luminar, which ran the Bas Vegas site, has unveiled plans to spend £3million for a new club, Pandora, which is due to open later this summer in the former Sky Bar.

But clubbers have voiced their concern about the lack of venues in the area while they await the opening of Pandora. The Bas Vegas complex, which could hold up to 2,500 people, opened in 1997 and was once dubbed the biggest “supersized nightclub” in Britain.

The revamp is part of an attempt to make Festival Leisure Park more family-friendly.

'RAYLEIGH IS STILL SAFE'

RAYLEIGH is still a safe town according to the chairman of the local pub watch, but he said increased visitors meant rare incidents of violence were slightly more common.

Russell Best, who is also landlord of the Spread Eagle, believes the town is seeing more incidents because a lot of the clubbing trade has been diverted from the Festival Leisure Park, in Basildon, where a number of venues have closed.

He said: “It’s not the case that Rayleigh is getting worse, but this sort of thing runs in cycles and you might have a couple of weeks where bits and pieces happen.

“But when you consider how many people enter this town on a Friday and Saturday – and clubbers have said this is bigger than Leigh or Billericay now – Rayleigh really doesn’t have a lot of trouble.

“Rayleigh is a very safe place and a nice place to go for a drink on a Friday and Saturday night – all the bars, pubs and clubs work together with a radio system and have a Behave or Be Banned scheme which applies to all venues.

“There are a lot of police around, too, because with Festival Leisure being closed, they’ve focused on getting more patrols out on Friday and Saturday nights because it’s so much busier.”