Roads and rivers have been flooding across Essex and south Suffolk following heavy rainfall.

On Friday evening a man was rescued by Essex fire crews when he drove into 3.5ft (1m) of water at Buttsbury Wash on Buttsbury Road, Billericay.

The fire service said they had been called out at least 16 times since Monday to flood related incidents.

Emergency services are urging drivers to be careful in the weather and not drive into any water-logged roads.

Overnight water lying across East Hanningfield Road at Rettendon Common near was pumped away before it reached nearby properties.

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A man from Hertfordshire has died from injuries sustained when he was hit by a car.

The 38-year-old, from Waltham Cross, was near the town's Jet petrol garage on Eleanor Cross Road in the early hours when the crash happened.

A grey Skoda Octavia driven by an Essex man struck him. The driver was not injured.

The victim, who has not yet been named, was seriously injured. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

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Lauren Roberts is only 23 years old, but fears she might never become a mother.

For Lauren has endometriosis, which results in patches of the womb's inner lining growing in other parts of the body.

Endometriosis, which affects around two million women in the UK, can cause severe pain, heavy periods and infertility.

Lauren once bled for eight months solidly and says she still has daily pain.

Hysterectomy threat

Her gynaecologist has warned her that she faces a hysterectomy sooner, rather than later.

But she is desperate to become a mother and is currently trying to raise £11,000 so she can start IVF next year.

"My only option would be to find a sperm donor and pay privately for IVF and become the mum I have always wanted to be"

"I have always known I want to be a mum," she said.

"And the older I get the less chance I have got.

"I wonder how long can I cope with the pain until it interrupts my life and I have to say, 'I can't cope with this anymore'

"Some days I just want to say, 'I want a hysterectomy'. It rules my life."

Lauren has also been diagnosed with polycystic ovaries - in which abnormal control of hormone levels result in tiny cysts developing in the ovaries.

Relatively unknown

Endometriosis is the second most common gynaecological condition, yet only 20% of the general public have heard of it.

Caroline Overton, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at St Michael's University Hospital Bristol and spokesperson for Endometriosis UK, said the condition could be devastating and there is no cure.

ENDOMETRIOSIS

• Usually diagnosed between the ages of 25 and 40

• Most commonly occurs in the fallopian tubes, ovaries, bladder, the bowel, the intestines, the vagina and the rectum

• Endometriosis cells behave in the same way as those lining the womb, so every month they grow during the menstrual cycle and shed blood

• Normally before a period, the womb lining thickens, then - if no pregnancy results - breaks down and bleeds. Endometrial tissue behaves the same way, but has no way of leaving the body. So the trapped tissue leads to swelling, pain and bleeding

"Surgery can be used to remove the disease, and hormone drugs are used to stem its growth," she said.

"There is no permanent cure for endometriosis and symptoms tend to return with time. The treatments available aim to reduce pain and improve the quality of life for a woman living with the condition."

Lauren, from Essex, said she had started her periods at just nine. She was in pain from the start and for the next few years tried pain killers, five different contraceptives and the coil to try to solve the problem.

She has also had surgery twice to remove the endometriosis, which helped for a short while, but doctors have warned any further surgery would affect her fertility.

"She said the best thing I can do is to start a family as soon as possible," said Lauren.

"I have been ready to have a child for the last couple of years, knowing about this.

"I was not in the best position, being single, to start thinking about a family but I knew I was, and am, ready to be a mum, so my only option would be to find a sperm donor and pay privately for IVF and become the mum I have always wanted to be."

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A writer who claimed to be a reformed criminal has been jailed for a minimum of 12 years after being convicted of robbing security guards.

Terry Smith, 51, of Canvey Island, Essex, was found guilty of conspiring to rob and conspiring to possess firearms with intent to rob.

His brother Len, 52, of Dagenham, was found not guilty of the same charges at Chelmsford Crown Court.

The raids were carried out in east London and Essex between 2006 and 2008.

Commuter shot

Prosecutors alleged that the brothers were involved in attacks on security guards delivering cash to hole-in-the-wall machines.

Detectives estimated £250,000 was stolen and during one raid, at Rayleigh, Essex, in May 2007, commuter Adam Mapleson was shot and injured.

Jurors were told that Terry Smith, who wrote the book The Art Of Armed Robbery, had previous convictions for armed robbery and had written a series of books in prison.

He had denied being involved in the robberies and told police that he was "reformed" and working as a writer and consultant for television crime programmes.

Smith was given an indeterminate prison sentence and told he must serve at least 12 years.

Brian Wall, 62, of Dagenham, Essex, was found guilty in June last year of causing Mr Mapleson grievous bodily harm with intent.

He was given an indeterminate sentence and ordered to serve at least 12 years.

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A hospital in Essex where a severely disabled man died has admitted breaching health and safety law.

Kyle Flack, 20, from Stanford-le-Hope, was found dead at Basildon University Hospital, on 12 October 2006.

His head had become trapped in the rails surrounding his bed, an inquest heard in 2007.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the prosecution, accusing the hospital of failing to ensure the patient's safety.

The hospital will be sentenced at a later date after magistrates committed the case to crown court.

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However distasteful it might be for some people, there is a legitimate demand for human organs, tissues and bodies, for use by academics and the medical profession.

Anatomical examination involves human bodies to train students, surgeons and other healthcare professionals about the structure of the body and how it works.

Organisations in the UK which carry out these activities are licensed by the Human Tissue Authority.

People can decide in advance to donate their body or organs to medical science after their death.

No payment is made to the person who donates their body, nor to the estate of the deceased.

Niche market

In the US, however, there is an increasingly commercial element to this supply and demand, with not-for-profit corporations involved in the procurement of bodies.

They offer financial support to families of the dead, arranging for the processing and transport of bodies, as well as final cremation.

Professor Michel Anteby at Harvard University is concerned about how they operate.

"In the US, it is a felony to actually purchase or sell a body, human tissue or organs," he says.

"Some of these ventures have become extremely successful and get more than 1,000 donations [bodies] a year"

"But the law excludes the payment for the removal, processing and preservation of cadavers."

Getting reimbursed for such services opens up a huge window for commerce.

"The US is a wonderful place to see entrepreneurs in action and this is what they have done," he maintains.

"About 15 years ago, some people decided that there was a niche for such services and these ventures have become extremely successful. Some of them get more than 1,000 donations a year."

Prof Anteby also points out that the commerce of cadavers is unregulated.

"Selling a house requires a licence, even selling candy at a state fair requires a licence, but no licence is required involving a cadaver."

Total package

Under US law, people can say they want to donate their bodies to science, or their next-of-kin can donate them after they are dead and non-profit organisations can accept these "anatomical gifts".

"We expect to recover between $5,000 and $6,000 per cadaver"

The Anatomy Gifts Registry charges fees for supplying bodies and tissues to medical companies and universities for applications in medical science and research.

"We have to offset our expenses, which include transportation of the deceased, the work that goes into obtaining the consent, the post-mortem procedures to determine the presence of contagious disease, the dissection and preparation of the body," says the registry's Brent Bardsley.

"We expect to recover between $5,000 and $6,000 per cadaver - either in its entirety or after the body has been divided," he says.

Fees are about 10% over and above the costs to enable the company to expand into on-site surgical training, where the public has a chance to visit the laboratory.

The company will also cremate unwanted parts afterwards at no cost to the family.

"We provide a portion of the remains back to the family within four weeks following the donation - these represent the body parts not used for research. Universities and medical centres may take up to two years," Mr Bardsley says.

HUMAN TISSUE ACT (UK 2004)

• Removal, storage and use of human tissue without consent illegal
• DNA theft now an offence
• Living donor transplants now allowed
• Deceased's wishes take precedence over family for organ donation
• Licenses needed for places carrying out post-mortems and anatomy schools
• Body parts exhibitions need licence

He dismisses any suggestions that his trade might be ghoulish or unsavoury.

"If you are injured, you expect to go to hospital and get the best care," he says.

"People take for granted how their surgeon became experienced to provide that good care. They would not be able to do it without cadaver donations," he explains.

"We maintain control of the dissemination of the tissues," he adds, "and we have to maintain that trust, otherwise people won't give us these gifts."

Body snatchers

Historically, physicians turned a blind eye towards the source of the bodies they acquired.

Before the Anatomy Act of 1832, the only legal supply of corpses for anatomical purposes in the UK were those condemned to death and dissection by the courts.

But such sentences did not provide enough subjects for the medical and private anatomical schools and by the 19th Century, only about 55 people were being sentenced to capital punishment each year.

With the expansion of medical schools, however, 500 cadavers a year were needed.

The medical profession therefore turned to body snatching to supply the deficit of bodies fresh enough to be examined.

During 1827 and 1828 in Edinburgh, William Burke and William Hare changed their tactics from grave-robbing to murder, because they were paid more for very fresh corpses.

Their activities, and those of grave robbers in London who imitated them, resulted in the passage of the Anatomy Act 1832.

This allowed unclaimed bodies and those donated by relatives to be used for the study of anatomy, and required the licensing of anatomy teachers - thus essentially ending the body-snatching trade.

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A centre where wounded servicemen and women can recover and learn new skills is to be built in Essex.

The new Personnel Recovery Centre is to open at Colchester garrison in 2011.

Funds for the building will come from the Help for Heroes charity and the centre will be run jointly by The Royal British Legion and the Army.

It will house 20 full-time residents and 40 day visitors. It will include two family rooms each catering for two adults and up to three children.

Col Tom Fleetwood, commander of Colchester Garrison, said: "This will be an extremely valuable facility for both the soldiers based here and those from across the Army.

New skills

"This centre, when complete, will provide an environment in which our soldiers can recover either returning to duty or leaving the Army and returning to civilian life with the appropriate support and skills.

"We are in the process of appointing a project manager for the centre and the design process will commence in earnest later this month. It is our aspiration to have the Centre fully operational by 2011."

The facility will be built on MoD land in Berechurch Road, between the Cpl Bryan Budd VC Gymnasium and the Garrison Medical Centre.

Marianne West, from Help for Heroes in Essex, said: "The centre will provide a facility for the wounded to learn new skills for their future, whether continuing in the services or returning to civilian life.

"It will be just marvellous actually to see the proof of the public's generosity taking shape before our eyes in Colchester."

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A horse sanctuary in Essex said it had been "inundated" with thin and starving animals during the recession.

The founder of the Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary in Buttsbury, Sue Burton, said the rise was due to people not being able to afford to keep them.

Ms Burton said: "We have not seen cruelty and suffering like this for over 25 years and I believe things will get worse before they improve."

Two emaciated ponies brought in to the sanctuary in the past month have died.

'Left to die'

Ms Burton said it seemed to be a UK-wide problem.

She said one of the mares they found was so thin her spine could be seen.

Some horses were found by the sanctuary in Colchester left out in snow without any food or shelter.

She said: "We have been inundated with people asking us to take their horses because they can not afford them or can not afford their vets' bills.

"We have taken in several with horrendous health problems that have just been dumped in fields and ostensibly left to die."

She urged anyone with concerns about an animal to report it and to particularly watch out for tethered animals, as they may not be able to reach food or shelter.

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A horse has been rescued from a swimming pool in Essex.

The horse, called Tequila, had escaped from its paddock near Chelmsford Road, in White Roding, near Dunmow, on Wednesday afternoon.

Tequila fell into a covered swimming pool at a property on Chelmsford Road and became trapped in the water.

Two fire crews drained the pool then used bales of hay to help the 30-year-old horse out. Tequila is staying in a stable to recover.

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A civil servant with acne who bought pills from a Chinese herbal shop suffered cancer and kidney failure after taking them, a court has heard.

Patricia Booth took the pills, bought at the Chinese Medical Centre in Chelmsford, Essex, for over five years.

The Old Bailey heard the products had been advertised as "safe and natural".

Ying "Susan" Wu, 48, of Holland-on-Sea in Essex and Thin "Patrick" Wong, 47, of Southend deny selling, administering and marketing the drugs illegally.

The trial continues.

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An Essex council has pledged to do all it can in the wake of drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline announcing it is axing 380 jobs from its Harlow research site.

One third of the workforce is to be made redundant after projects for pain relief, anxiety and depression drugs end. The plant will remain open.

Harlow Council leader Andrew Johnson said a response group had been started.

"We will do all that we can to attract a similarly high profile employer to the facilities," he said.

Mr Johnson said: "Any job losses are a blow to the town and we will do everything we can do support those affected by these proposals.

Pre-tax profit

"Harlow continues to be a great business location, and we will do all that we can to attract a similarly high profile employer to the facilities in the North Science Park to help create new jobs.

"Interest in Harlow as a place to invest remains strong."

GlaxoSmithKline said a consultation period was under way but no new research projects would be started.

The firm also said it would continue restructuring to bring in £500m of savings by 2012 but would "try to preserve jobs" wherever possible.

The company announced a 12% rise in annual profit on 4 February, but also stressed the need to reduce costs.

Pre-tax profits for 2009 came in at £8.73bn ($13.81bn), compared with £7.78bn in 2008.

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CCTV footage of a suspected arsonist has been released by Essex Police after fire destroyed four diesel tankers.

Officers believe that one person deliberately started a fire on an industrial estate in Maldon.

He was captured on camera running away from the scene in West Station Yard on 6 February.

The storage tanks contained more than 190,000 litres (41,795 gallons) of fuel and the damage caused is estimated to be in the region of £500,000.

A police spokesman said: "We are releasing the CCTV images in the hope that someone living locally in Maldon will be able to help us identify the person we are looking for."

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On 6, February 2000 an Afghan airline was hijacked during an internal flight and flown to Stansted Airport.

The plane landed in the early hours of on Monday, 7 and was followed by four days of tense negotiations.

On the fifth day all hostages were finally released, with at least 60 claiming political asylum in the UK.

Nine Afghan hijackers were jailed in 2001 for hijacking, false imprisonment, possession of firearms and explosives, but were later acquitted in 2003.

They were able to claim asylum here, whilst many of the hostages also claimed the right to stay in the UK.

Tracking the flight

The plane carrying more than 100 passengers was hijacked shortly after take-off from Kabul.

The plane landed twice in central Asia, where some passengers were released and the plane refuelled.

Several hours later, it stopped in Moscow, where more passengers were freed.

The plane made its way from Moscow heading to Frankfurt before being diverted to the UK.

John Williams was the Head of Public Affairs for Stansted Airport at the time.

A decade on he recalled to BBC Essex how he had been alerted that the plane was bound for the airport.

"We had been watching the track of the aircraft quite carefully because, as the UK's designated hijack airport, as soon as any aircraft is hijacked and heading to Europe, then we watch the situation carefully to see if it's going to London," he said.

"For us the hijack started at midnight on the Monday. I was informed by the duty manager at midnight that the aircraft was going to land at Frankfurt.

"Then at about half-past-one I was woken by the Press Association, who said their sources told him the plane was heading for Stansted and was over the North Sea.

"At that point I called my media team, got in the car and rushed down to the airport."

Prepared

"We'd been practicing for this. We'd had a hijack in 1996 with the Sudan Airways plane and that had given us a foretaste of what to do"

Police and emergency services were also soon on the scene.

Contact was made with the hijackers who released an initial eight hostages, followed by a ninth man after he complained of breathing difficulties.

John said they were well rehearsed in dealing with such a situation.

"We'd been practicing for this. We'd had a hijack in 1996 with the Sudan Airways plane and that had given us a foretaste of what to do," he said.

Whilst the airport's runways were initially closed, as the hijacked plane stationed away from the main terminal, normal operations were soon able to resume.

"We were very quickly able, with the agreement of the Civil Aviation Authority, to open a part of the runway away from where the hijacked aircraft was," said John.

"We actually started flights again in the afternoon and come the Tuesday I think we were running about 90% of our services."

On the fourth day the captain and three senior crew escaped from the plane, by jumping from a cockpit window and running to safety.

Shortly after midnight on the fifth day 85 people, including 21 children on board came down the steps.

Six hours later on Thursday, 10 February, armed police ringed the jet just before the steps to the plane came down once again.

Another steady stream of people, mainly men, walked away from the jet.

Stansted's fourth hijack was over.

The hijack happened only two months after theKorean Air cargo jet crashin December 1999.

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A 69-year-old woman who died after being pulled from an Essex river has been named by police.

Rose Williams, of Larkspur Close, Witham, was pulled from the River Brain by police after her mobility scooter was spotted in the water on Friday.

Officers tried to resuscitate her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene near River's Walk junction with Guithavon Road in Witham.

A post mortem examination will be carried out next week.

A section of River Walk was closed for four hours while investigators carried out their enquiries and the scooter was recovered.

Anyone who saw the woman travelling on her red disability scooter between 1800 and 1930 GMT on Friday is asked to contact Essex Police.

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Arsonists have struck at a fuel yard in Essex, destroying four lorries.

Fire crews, called to the fire at West Station Yard, Maldon, Essex, at 1840 GMT on Saturday, prevented the fire from spreading to fuel storage tanks.

Essex Police issued an appeal for help to trace a group of teenagers seen running away from the scene moments after the fire began.

Police said that CCTV showed a boy running across the yard before and after the fire.

A police spokesman said: "We are obviously keen to identify him and would like parents and friends to help us with our enquiries."

Divisional Officer Andy Stapleton, of the Essex Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Crews worked excellently to prevent the fire from spreading to fuel storage tanks in the yard.

"The fire affected four lorries in the yard."

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A 31-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a series of armed robberies and attempted robberies in Essex.

The man was arrested after a robber threatened staff at an Asda petrol station at Eastgate in Basildon.

He is being questioned in connection with robberies in Basildon, Colchester, Pitsea and Wickford.

The man, who is from Colchester, is currently being questioned by detectives at Basildon police station.

Offender ran off

The latest incident took place at the Asda petrol station on Eastgate when a man threatened staff with a knife shortly before 1100 GMT.

The offender ran off without stealing anything.

On Saturday at the BP petrol station on Nethermayne a man walked into the shop shortly before 0200 GMT and threatened staff with a knife, before walking out with a three-figure sum of cash.

Previous robberies have taken place at Coral Racing bookmakers in Wickford (3 February), the Subway food outlet on Pitsea Broadway (2 February), Betstar in Basildon (29 January), Farm Foods on Pitsea High Road (27 January), the Co-op Chemist at the Laindon Centre in Basildon (26 January) and at Dovercourt Ford in Colchester (24 January).

No-one has been injured in any of the robberies.

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The Politics Show can reveal unprecedented cuts in jobs and services across local authorities in the east.

£315m of savings will have to be found and more than 700 jobs are to go so far.

Every year is a tough year when it comes to balancing the local authority books but this year is exceptional.

A low grant from central government, pressure not to raise council tax and the recession are responsible.

Councils are facing falling income from investments due to low interest rates and increased pressures on services brought about by the economic downturn.

They have had to take money out of balances, make redundancies, stop recruitment and implement pay freezes in order to make the savings and balance their budgets.

So far it is going to mean 731 jobs will be lost this year and that total is likely to rise as other councils say they have not ruled job losses out.

All of this is being done to keep our council tax bills down, this year the average rise for tax payers across region is 2.2%.

Council Tax Increases in the east

• Northamptonshire 3.5%
• Central Bedfordshire 2.95
• Suffolk 2.4%
• Bedfordshire Borough 2.3%
• Cambridgeshire 3%
• Essex 1.9%
• Norfolk 1.9%

That ranges from 3.5% in Northamptonshire, to 1.9% in Essex... which is the lowest in the country.

Even if front line services are protected, discretionary services will suffer.

• Cutting the verges of roads will be less frequent
• Support to boost tourism will be cut back
• Grants for local arts will be hit
• Sport and leisure facilities will be targeted
• Help for the voluntary sector will be reduced

You can us send your comments on the form below...

London Underground maintenance workers are set to stage the first in a series of 24-hour strikes in a row over rosters and the outsourcing of work.

About 750 Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members are due to walk out from 0645 GMT, union leaders said.

The action will hit lines which were maintained by Metronet, including the Victoria, Bakerloo and Central.

London Underground (LU) said it was intending to operate a good service during the industrial action.

The 24-hour strike is due to be followed by stoppages from the same time every Sunday from 14 February until the dispute is resolved.

RMT leader Bob Crow said: "LU have been hell bent on confrontation through their tearing up of the signals framework agreement and through the unilateral introduction of new working practices which mean they can make people work what hours they like, when they like.

"RMT members have said enough is enough by voting overwhelmingly for action."

He added that they had held "extensive talks" with the company on the rostering issue but every proposal from the RMT had "been thrown back in our faces".

Phil Hufton, LU's chief maintenance officer, said: "Londoners will share our dismay at the RMT's leadership's attempts to jeopardise the Tube's operation over this issue.

"We are planning to introduce a roster covering 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to ensure planned engineering staff are always available.

"That agreement already exists, but the RMT is trying to tear it up.

"We have consulted fully with staff and unions on the proposed changes and we are prepared to continue discussions with the RMT."

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A Spanish investigation into the death of an Essex parachutist has been criticised by a coroner.

Richard Taylor, 34, from Brentwood, plunged 20,000ft (6096m) to his death near Madrid last June when both his parachutes did not open properly.

At the Nottingham inquest on Wednesday coroner Dr Nigel Chapman recorded a verdict of accidental death but was critical of the Spanish inquiry.

After the inquest he said it had not been "a very good investigation".

Mr Taylor was at the Skydive Madrid school near Ocana in central Spain when he died.

Dr Chapman said he was provided with only three statements about the accident.

'Working properly'

He said: "I was critical because in this country we would have had statements from a lot more people, including any people on the ground who saw it.

"We would have been told what training he had had. The parachute would have been checked by an independent expert.

"We can't do anything for Richard now but there was an opportunity to see if lessons could be learned and that has been missed."

Skydive Madrid rejected the coroner's criticism and said the Spanish investigation into Mr Taylor's death was ongoing.

Manager Inaki Bilbao said: "We can't invent witnesses. For us, the case is very simple.

"The parachute was working properly and the automatic activation device worked properly, but the man failed to operate it."

A court in Ocana is carrying out an investigation into the incident and an army parachutist is examining the parachute, he added.

Andrew Bearne, 39, from Surrey, died at the same skydiving school in August 2008.

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A man who fled from Essex to his native South Africa after committing sexual offences against children under 13 has been jailed indefinitely.

Stephen Wooding, 36, of the Stansted area, admitted rape of a child and two counts of sexual assault on a child.

He also admitted causing a child to engage in a sexual act and 28 charges relating to indecent images.

Sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday, he was told he would serve at least five years and 11 months.

The indeterminate prison term, or Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP), means Wooding has no automatic right to be released at the end of his sentence.

The Parole Board must be satisfied that the risk of harm he poses to the public is acceptable.

Ports alerted

The South African national was told he will be deported upon his release and would be the subject of a sexual offences prevention order.

Essex Police said they began a "lengthy and at times extremely frustrating" investigation when serious allegations were made against Wooding in January 2008.

South African authorities were alerted and and an all-ports bulletin sent out in an attempt to prevent Wooding leaving the UK.

He was eventually found and arrested in South Africa almost a year later, which prompted a lengthy extradition process which culminated in him being flown back to Essex in April 2009.

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