Thurrock Gazette - Grays, Purfleet, Tilbury, Orsett, Stanford, Lakeside and Thurrock borough news

Holiday balcony fall teenager dies

1:21pm Friday 30th July 2010

A teenager who fell from the seventh floor of an apartment block in Majorca has died, the Foreign Office confirmed.

Rail crash caused by unsafe points

1:11pm Friday 30th July 2010

Seven people died in the Potters Bar rail crash as a result of a points failure caused by their unsafe condition, an inquest jury has ruled.

Holden lands royal role in Shrek

12:09pm Friday 30th July 2010

Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden is to put her own singing and dancing skills under scrutiny, by starring in Shrek The Musical.

Benefits system overhaul launched

11:45am Friday 30th July 2010

The Government has unveiled radical proposals to reform the UK's "antiquated" benefits system, pledging the biggest overhaul in decades in a drive to simplify the structure and make work pay.

Venables identity 'to stay secret'

11:07am Friday 30th July 2010

The new identity of killer Jon Venables must be kept secret because of the "compelling evidence" of a threat to his safety, a judge has said.

Prescott 'doubts over Iraq weapons'

10:57am Friday 30th July 2010

Lord Prescott had doubts about intelligence on Saddam Hussein's weapons programmes before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the inquiry into the war has heard.

Shephard bids farewell to GMTV sofa

10:25am Friday 30th July 2010

Ben Shephard told viewers "I will miss you all" as he quit the GMTV sofa after a decade, adding: "Let's have a lie-in."

UK population 'to increase by 24%'

10:19am Friday 30th July 2010

The UK will be the biggest country in Western Europe by 2050, overtaking both France and Germany, figures showed.

Politicians lose expenses appeal

9:50am Friday 30th July 2010

Three former Labour MPs and a Tory peer have lost appeals over a ruling that they are not protected from prosecution by parliamentary privilege over allegations that they fiddled their expenses.

Senators head to UK over Lockerbie

8:45am Friday 30th July 2010

An influential US Senate committee is ready to send members to the UK to question British witnesses on the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi on compassionate grounds.