THE ex-wife of a convicted paedophile says her "depraved" former husband should have been sentenced to longer behind bars.

Andrew Winch, 56, of Beardsley Drive, Chelmsford, was jailed for four months two weeks ago for downloading and possessing nearly 2,000 indecent images and videos of children.

Divorcee Kay Winch, who contacted the Chronicle to speak of her disgust at the length of the jail-term, also claims she reported her ex-husband to Essex Police two weeks after their break-up in March 2010.

"I am talking to you out of sheer frustration and anger," said Mrs Winch.

"I think he should have far more than four months and I think he should be on the Sexual Offenders' Register for more than the seven years the judge ordered because he is never going to change."

Mrs Winch, also aged 56, says she was with Winch, who she knew since her schooldays in Redbridge, London, for about six years before the two moved to Colchester in 1993. The mother-of-six, who had two children with him, said she only realised "strange stuff" about the man after they got married in 2008.

"There were some very strange things happening which took me only a few weeks to put together that I couldn't put together all the years before then," she said.

"You can live with someone for a very long time without knowing them, but the idea that he had indecent images – that was not even going through my head.

"From September 2009 to March 2010, I knew something was strange but I thought I must be just going through a funny period and he'd just lost his dad so there was a lot of emotion.

"Now I can talk differently but at that time I didn't know what it was. He was funny about his computer stuff but when I asked, and not being computer literate myself, he told me I was too thick to understand."

Mrs Winch said she walked out on Winch on Sunday, March 21, after an incident she doesn't want to disclose.

Winch lived with a colleague in Braintree for six months before moving to Chelmsford to be closer to the Royal Mail sorting office, where he and Mrs Winch both worked, in Montrose Road.

Mrs Winch claimed Royal Mail gave him a £19,000 medical retirement package due to his sciatica in summer 2012, a fact the firm refused to comment on.

She said she has spent five years in and out of counselling.

"I'm trying to get back on the planet after all the disruption but all the anger inside of me I never think will go away," she said.

"I lost three stone in six weeks after what happened in 2010. It was horrendous and we, my family, were just trying to piece together and get to grips with how this all happened and then this article came out with the news of his conviction.

"I have spent five years in hell and I think he needs to do more than four months.

"There is something so depraved with that man and he needs lots of treatment, but I don't think it's even possible to put his mind back to normality."

She claims Winch convinced police she was spouting false accusations when she told them he possessed indecent images.

"I am fuming because no one would listen to me five years ago," she said. "He just called me a psychotic ***** and made enough of a case to convince them that I was on my own planet and was talking out of my ****.

Winch, who was arrested at his Chelmsford home on June 16 last year in front of his third wife, admitted at a preliminary hearing to ten charges of downloading and possessing indecent images of children, some as young as eight years old, between December 2012 and June 2014.

On his laptop and on hard drives police said he had 308 films and pictures at level A – the most extreme – 219 at level B and 1,283 at level C.

CHELMSFORD City have confirmed that Lee Sawyer has penned a new deal that will keep the talented midfielder at the club until the end of next season.

Sawyer, who has excelled in the centre of midfield for the Clarets this season, joined from Vanarama Conference South side Sutton United last summer. 

The former Chelsea youngster, who was named on the substitutes' bench under Jose Mourinho during the Portuguese's first spell as Blues' boss, initially joined on a three month loan but, following the transfer of City's Glen Southam in the opposite direction, the deal was made permanent towards the end of last year.

With five goals to his name, including three penalties, in 32 matches, the midfielder has proved a hit on the City terraces and has received five man of the match' awards, settling in alongside skipper Mark Hughes admirably and playing a key role in many of City's recent victories.

As The Rose and Crown pub in Writtle prepares to battle it out on new Sky One show Quiz Nights, The Chronicle has compiled its own tavern test:

1. Do you know from which country pop star Rhianna originates?

2. According to Empire Magazine what is the best British film of all time?

3. What is the oldest recorded town in Essex?

4. Where might you find an f-hole?

5. In the film Essex boys, what true event is the story based upon?

6. Do you know what Achluophobia is?

7. What year did the reality TV show TOWIE hit our screens?

8. Who invented the radio?

9. Name all four members of the original A-Team?

10. Which band member of Blur is an Essex boy?

Let us know how you get on via our Facebook page and on Twitter, @EssexChronicle. 

For the answers, click here.

A three vehicle crash outside a primary school has blocked Braintree Road and a man had to be cut from the wreckage.

Firefighters were called to the accident at 8.59am today after a collision outside Cressing Primary School.

One man in his 20s was trapped by his injuries and two fire crews from Braintree cut him free from his vehicle using cutting equipment by 9.36am.

A woman in her 50s suffered an injury to her knee.

The B1018, Braintree Road, in Cressing remains partially blocked by the accident and paramedics are also at the scene.

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service, said: "Two patients have been taken to hospital following a traffic collision in Braintree Road.

"The ambulance service was called at 8.21am with two ambulances and an officer dispatched to what appears to have been a collision involving three cars.

"A woman in her 50s suffered an injury to her knee while a woman in her 20s suffered chest injuries. Both were taken to Broomfield Hospital for further care."

Aged 12 to 18? Bored of staying home on Sunday evenings? You don't have to - you now have the choice to end your weekend with something fun and new!

A brand new project by Chelmsford City Council, called 'Your Choice', will offer teenagers in the area the opportunity to meet friends, explore something new and have fun on Sunday nights for just £1.

The  City Council has received a grant from Essex County Council's Youth Strategy Group to develop the new youth drop-in sessions at South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre.

Young people will be able to choose what they want to take part in each week and the programme will be developed around their interests. Even the background music will be decided by participants, with the teenagers devising their own playlists for each week.

Activities will include a climbing wall, DJ workshops, indoor and outdoor sports, parkour, arts and photography. There will also be the opportunity to just meet friends and chill out. It's drop-in, so if teenagers fancy coming along one week to try it out, there is no obligation.

Workshops will also be offered to provide a range of life skills. Participants will be able to learn about First Aid, Personal Safety, the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse and knife crime.

Chelmsford City Council's Cabinet Member for Parks and Leisure, Councillor Ray Ride, said: "Chelmsford City Council wants young people to get involved in decisions about their own wellbeing and the services we provide for them. With these new workshops, teenagers can choose fun, challenging activities that will be useful and beneficial to them."

The project begins on Sunday 15 February. Sessions take place from 6pm to 8pm.

For more details, please visit www.chelmsford.gov.uk/yourchoice.

A man has been jailed for attempting to smuggle fake ID documents into the UK at Stansted Airport.

Pakistani national Qumar Ghulam, 33, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday (2 February).

He had admitted three counts of possessing false identity documents with intent.

Stuart Cooper, from the Home Office Criminal and Financial Investigations Team, said: "Had Ghulam succeeded in bringing the false EU documents into the country they could have been used to as part of fraudulent applications by immigration offenders to remain in the UK.

"He had concealed the items throughout his luggage – including one that had been hidden inside a hollowed out section of a Barcelona telephone directory.

"The fact that his smuggling attempt was unsuccessful is testament to the expertise of my colleagues in Border Force."

Ghulam, of no fixed UK address, had been stopped by Border Force officers when he arrived at Stansted Airport on November 27 last year on a flight from Barcelona.

When officers searched his luggage they found a Spanish ID card, a Spanish driving licence and a Spanish passport. All the items were fake.

Ghulam was arrested and the case was passed to Home Office investigators.

Ghulam will be automatically considered for deportation at the end of his sentence.

Border Force officers are on the front line of the fight against immigration crime and detect banned and restricted goods that smugglers attempt to bring into the country.

Border Force officers typically use an array of search techniques in these cases.

These include sniffer dogs, carbon dioxide detectors, heartbeat monitors and scanners - as well as visual searches - to find well-hidden stowaways, illegal drugs, firearms and tobacco.

Anyone who has information on suspected immigration offenders can visit http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/contact/report-crime/

Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to smuggling can call our hotline on 0800 59 5000.

Six men, including two from Braintree, are currently in custody following an operation which saw two vehicles stopped on Canvey Island and one recovered which had been stolen.

A silver Audi A5 which was stolen during a burglary in Galleywood on January 8 was recovered after it was stopped by officers on Rosscommon Way, Canvey, at 11.10pm last night (January 6).

A 29-year-old man and a 27-year-old man, both from Canvey, have been arrested on suspicion of burglary and are in custody.

Earlier the same evening four men were arrested after a Renault Clio was stopped in Essex Way, Benfleet. 

A 33-year-old man from Braintree, a 31-year-old man from Southend, a 35-year-old man from Westcliff and a 37-year-old man from Southend, were arrested on suspicion of burglary in Braintree on January 25. 

They are all currently in custody.

Do you know all there is to know about Essex? Have you put your general knowledge to the test? Find out the answers below:

1.Do you know what continent Rhianna's from? Barbados

2.According to Empire Magazine what is the best British film ever? Lawrence of Arabia

3.Which town is the oldest in Essex? Colchester

4.Where you might find an f-hole? Cut in the front of instruments belonging to the violin family

5.What is the film the Essex Boys based around? Rettendon Range Rover murders

6.Do you know what Achluophobia is? Fear of the dark

7.What year did the reality TV show TOWIE hit our screens? 2010

8.Who invented the radio? Guglielmo Marconi

9.Name all four members of the original A-Team? John "Hannibal" Smith, Templeton "face (man)" Peck, Bosco Albert "B.A" Baracus, Howling Mad Murdock

10.Which band member of Blur is an Essex boy? Dave Rowntree was born in Colchester. Half a point for those who said Damon Albarn, as he was raised in Leytonstone before moving to Aldham, Essex.

A broken down lorry blocking the inside lane between J19 at Boreham and J18 at Sandon London-bound is causing slow moving traffic on the A12.

Keep us updated with how the traffic is affecting your journey by posting on our Facebook page or tweeting @EssexChronicle.

A GARDENER convicted of firearms offences after assault rifles, sawn-off shotguns, an Uzi and a Thompson machine gun were seized by Scotland Yard had stored ammunition in two Heybridge caravans.

In April 2014 an intelligence-led operation by the Waltham Forest Gangs Task Force raided the home of Dean Stokes, 51, in Leyton, East London, and found a large collection of weapons and ammunition.

It was one of the Metropolitan police's largest ever gun hauls and after further inquiries it emerged that Stokes owned two caravans in Heybridge.

At these caravans the police found ammunition and firearm related paraphernalia. In total, spread across both addresses, the offender had 510 live cartridges in his possession.

The Court of Appeal has yesterday (Thursday February 6) increased Stokes' sentence for possession of firearms from 20 months to 5 years' imprisonment.

In November 28 2014, in the Central Criminal Court, Dean Stokes was sentenced to a total of 20 months' imprisonment for 17 firearms offences, the Court of Appeal agreed the sentence was unduly lenient. 

Some of the firearms seized included two .32 auto calibre self-loading pistols, a converted 8mm BBM police blank firing pistol, a "sawn off" 12 bore pump-action shotgun, a .45 auto calibre sub machine gun, and a large amount of ammunition.

The Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC, MP referred the sentence to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland, QC, MP, said: "Dean Stokes was in possession of a massive arsenal of firearms and live rounds of ammunition.

"He was also responsible for reactivating the firearms.

"These weapons were scattered around the various properties he owned and not properly stored under lock and key, creating a danger for the general public.

"I hope this revised sentence sends out a clear message to anyone harbouring illegal weapons that they will be severely punished."

Murder accused, Luke Eva, told a passer-by he had been mugged of £200 to £300, stabbed in the hand and "may have taken the knife off them and stabbed them" after running for three hours through woodland.

At 6.50am on April 17 last year a worker at Springwood Drive industrial estate, Braintree, saw a figure without any shoes or shirt on coming from a wooded area towards the industrial estate.

Luke Eva, 24, was charged with murder after Michael Haastrup died from a stab wound to the heart last year.

The pair were allegedly involved in a drugs dispute and a fight broke out in a Cressing Road flat on April 16, that also involved a third man who was a friend of Mr Haastrup.

A murder trial began at Chelmsford Crown Court last Wednesday (January 28) in which it was heard the tree men were selling Class A drugs in the area.

Darren Cohen, who works at City Rail Solution in Springwood Drive, told the court: "I was just parking my car when I saw a man waving his arms in the air, carrying a plastic bag, trying to flag me down.

"It looked like he had come from the direction of the forest area, behind a small ravine next to the industrial estate.

"He said, 'can you help me I have been mugged and I need to use your phone', I told him to wait outside the unit until I parked.

"I noticed his whole body was covered in scratches and he had a cut on the inside left wrist area.

"He said he had been running through the forest for three hours and had been stabbed after being in a fight with a black boy and a white boy.

"I then asked him where Cressing Road was as I'm not from Braintree and he told me he may have taken the knife off them and stabbed them.

"I gave him a shirt and made him a cup of tea and sat him down by the heater as he was shivering.

"He made about 12 calls from my phone to various people, including his dad who was coming to collect him, and he slept on and off in the chair.

"He said he used to work in his dad's gym, spoke about having a girlfriend in Braintree.

"He said he lost his mobile phone and that he did have one shoe but threw is away as he couldn't run with only one shoe.

"I told him if I was asked I would tell the police everything. He didn't seem bothered by that, he seemed calm and didn't seem concerned about anything

At about 9.30am his grandfather picked Luke up from outside the Xpect Gym on the industrial estate.

Judith Cunnison, a forensic scientist who examined the flat in Cressing Road, told Chelmsford Crown Court she found blood spatter stains at the top of the stairs towards the flat and up the door of the property, owned by Colin Cornelius.

She also found there "projected" blood on an area of the near wall containing over 100 spots

"It looked as though a blood stained person or people have moved from between the communal door making contact with the banister, wall, carpet and rail.

"The blood spatter would indicate an assault in the entrance to the flat."

The DNA of Michael Haastrup and Colin Cornelius was found on a claw hammer, and on a broken walking stick found did not have a definitive match to anyone in the flat.

A broken piece of wood found outside the block of flats matched James McGowan.

Essex County Council's cabinet member for finance, Cllr John Spence, outlines the council's proposals to freeze council tax for the fifth successive year.

He also underlines its plans to invest £272 million next year into improving the county's roads, creating new school places, and helping vulnerable people live as independently as possible.

In the three-minute video, he highlights the council's ambitions to invest more than £1billion to support schemes across the county – dependent on government funding and the council continuing its disciplined approach to managing its finances.

Cllr Spence says his ambition is to build an even better Essex by long term investment achieved through the most effective and efficient council services.

The council's budget is due to be finalised at the full council meeting on Tuesday, February 10.

A HEYBRIDGE man will go on trial next week charged with the rape of a woman in Mill Lane path in June last year.

Groundworker David John Heard, 26, of Elizabeth Way, is alleged to have raped a woman on the path which runs next to the River Blackwater and leads to the Tesco store and McDonald's at Fullbridge.

He will appear at Chelmsford Crown Court, in New Street, on Monday February 9 for what is expected to be a four day trial.

Heard has pleaded not guilty to the sexual assault which is alleged to have taken place under a bridge on the path.

Yesterday (February 5) police arrested a man on suspicion of a rape after an incident near the very same underpass on Saturday, January 24.

The victim, in her 20s, was set upon by two men while walking away from the supermarket between 5.45pm and 6.15pm.

The 24-year-old man from Maldon was arrested in the early hours on suspicion of rape, indecent exposure and outraging public decency.

He is currently in police custody and will be questioned regarding the assault of a woman in her 20s.

More than 1,000 people have signed a petition calling for lights and CCTV on the Mill Lane path since the second attack. 

A GARDENER has been found not guilty of raping a 45-year-old woman after meeting at a Chelmsford nightclub.

A jury decided unanimously to clear Alin Calinciuc of a single charge of rape at Chelmsford Crown Court today (February 6) after about two hours of deliberation.

Mr Calinciuc and the woman, who had become drunk and had lost her friend, were both in Chicago's in Moulsham Street in the early hours of Monday, August 5, 2013.

The woman said she could remember Mr Calinciuc dragging her away from the club at about 1.50am.

The prosecution alleged the 24-year-old Romanian national, of Manor Road, Chelmsford, forced the woman, from Harlow, into non-consensual sex in his bedroom in the early hours of the Monday.

She said she awoke in a dingy bedroom and later that day told her GP she had a sore vagina and bruising to her lips, arms, thighs, lower legs and shoulder.

But in CCTV the two can be seen dancing together in the club, together in the smoking area and together leaving the club holding hands.

While cross examining the woman, defence barrister Jacqueline Carey said: "You were seen dancing with Mr Calincuic, your arms on each other, possibly you kissing him but certainly your heads moving towards each other and you going out towards the smoking area with him.

"At no stage there are you being dragged or pulled."

At one point the woman, who remains anonymous for legal reasons, appears to pull Mr Calinciuc away from talking to a doorman.

"I suggest that is you and he walking off together perfectly happy and perfectly consensually," she added.

"You say no it wasn't, but you can't remember though can you and it looks like you did.

"You don't want to think that any of this happened to you but it did and you did go off with him quite happy that evening."

When asked by prosecutor Mr Casey why she was making the allegation however, she answered: "I would not have sex with a man."

The woman, a mother, claimed she had not had sex with a man since conceiving her son 19 years ago.

Today's verdict follows a five-day trial which was interrupted sporadically by other court cases.

Essex County Council has launched its new bus strategy and consultation today asking for resident's views on how to improve the county's bus and passenger transport network.

Launched today, February 6, the consultation, called "Getting around in Essex" runs until March 31 and aims to help the council and its partners review the bus service currently delivered and to deliver greater economic and social benefits for the people who travel around and work in Essex.

Essex County Councillor Rodney L. Bass, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation, said: "This strategy will focus on building long term and sustained partnerships with bus operators to strengthen the network and grow passenger numbers."

Essex County Council currently provides financial support for nearly 200 bus services either in full or for certain journeys to meet particular needs.

These include park and ride schemes and they fund some routes which are not considered commercially viable by First buses, but most buses, around 85% of the network, running through Essex are provided commercially.

Cllr Bass added: "It will help to review current services, look at getting better value from the transport services Essex County Council supports and reduce overall costs without significantly impacting services."

The consultation focuses on working better with partners, measures to grow passenger numbers, better targeted support for those services that are taxpayer funded, better information for customers, services that are better tailored to local needs, integrated and smart ticketing, and focused local planning.

To read the strategy go to www.essex.gov.uk/busreview

To answer the survey questions visit www.essexinsight.org.uk/consultations and go to 'current consultations' then 'consultation on bus and passenger transport strategy'.

Alternatively, contact Healthwatch on 01376 572829 between 10am and 2pm, Monday to Friday except for public holidays to complete the survey over the telephone.

Hard copies of the strategy will be available at local libraries or to request copy of the summary, which includes a paper copy of the survey for you to complete, please call 0845 743 0430 or email contact@essex.gov.uk.

This consultation does not include the qualification criteria for statutory services such as bus passes or entitlement for statutory transport such as home to school.

A house was broken into and a Mercedes was stolen from the driveway in Kelvedon.

A rear patio door of the property was smashed and the keys to the black Mercedes SL320 were snatched from inside and the car was then driven away.

It happened sometime between 4.30pm and 8pm on Tuesday, February 3, at a house in London Road, Kelvedon.

Police are appealing for information on the incident, so anybody who has any information about the burglary or who knows the whereabouts of the car is asked to contact officers at Braintree CID on Essex Police 101.

People can also give information to the independent crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via an Anonymous Online Form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org

A CONSTRUCTION firm owner "completely and utterly" denies stealing £150 in perfume from Boots after he was arrested in Chelmsford.

Wayne Mixture, 44, of Hall Lane, Sandon, and a 34-year-old woman from Maldon were arrested by police on suspicion of shop lifting in Chelmsford city centre at 4.55pm on Thursday, February 5.

Mixture, director Acorn Developments, was later charged with theft and resisting arrest while the woman was handed a caution.

Father-of-two Mixture however claims he went into the High Chelmer shopping centre store to purchase photographs and paid for the perfume.

"I protest my innocence," said Mixture.

"I completely and utterly deny what they are alleging and I think they're harassing me and they're going overboard deliberately to make a big thing about me."

Mixture and the 34-year-old Maldon woman were apprehended after leaving the store and were arrested in Tindal Street.

"I had eight police cars on me," claimed Mixture, who says his Rolex watch was scratched and his wrist hairs cut during the arrest.

A police spokesman said: "A man has been charged with theft and resisting arrest having been detained in the city centre along with a woman on suspicion of shop lifting from Boots.

"Wayne Mixture, 44, of Hall Lane, Sandon, was arrested along with a 34-year-old from Maldon at 4.55pm in Tindal Street, Chelmsford, on Thursday, February 5, and was charged with theft of perfume worth around £150 and the resisting arrest and bailed to attend Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on March 4.

"The woman received a caution for theft."

A MOTHER whose son died in similar circumstances at the Linden Centre more than six years ago has said that the jury's findings prove that nothing has changed at the hospital.

Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) sufferer Ben Morris, 20, from Maldon, was found hanged in his room whilst under the care of the Linden Centre in December 2008.

The NEPFT led a panel inquiry into Ben's death and made 17 recommendations for improvements on the Galleywood Ward.

They included a failure to assess or plan for risks, monitor his condition or evaluate his progress, and that risk assessments should be carried out and a detailed care programme approach followed.

His mother Lisa Morris, of Burns Close, Maldon, attended the hearing.

She said: "I'm very pleased that failures by the Linden Centre have been exposed. I think it would be a good idea to undertake a public inquiry – done by independent people, not people that work for the NHS.

"So many deaths keep happening in that hellhole yet nothing ever changes to make it a safer place.

"This proves that nothing has changed there since Ben's death."

AS THE police hunt continues for two suspects wanted for a rape in Maldon, two mums are still fighting for lighting and CCTV for an underpass nearby.

On Saturday, January 24, a woman in her twenties, was dragged into bushes by two men and raped, just yards from Mill Lane path, under the A414 near Tesco at Fullbridge.

On Friday, detectives released an e-fit image of one of the suspects they would like to trace in connection with the rape.

The shocking assault has kick-started a community campaign with over 3,000 people signing a petition calling for lights and CCTV on the secluded path, and for hedges nearby to be trimmed.

The campaign, headed by Heybridge residents Kelly Sanger and Lorraine Hastings, has a Facebook group called 'Make The Heybridge A414 Underpass Safe' with 894 members.

And after sending letters to Maldon MP John Whittingdale, Essex County Council highways boss, Councillor Rodney Bass, and Maldon District Council, the group has received good news.

Mrs Sanger, 43, from Roman Close, started her campaign in November after hearing about a previous attack in Mill Lane.

She said: "We have received a reply from Essex County Council and they have agreed to meet us to discuss the lighting down there.

"The council have said that they have been on site with the police and reviewed the situation and have decided that all vegetation overhanging this path is to be severely cut back by rangers.

"We are awaiting a response from the police but on the ground they have been very supportive.

"It's brilliant to see the community come together to try to stop something like this happening again."

The first suspect is described as of Asian or Indian appearance, around 30 years old, about 5ft 10in tall, with stubble, and he was wearing a Superdry jacket, which has a green logo. He is the one suspected of the rape.

The second man was slightly taller than the first and wore a black coat and a hooded top.

Mother-of-two Lorraine Hastings, 41, a carer from Heybridge, has been door-knocking to get residents to sign the petition.

She said: "They have given contact information to us and have advised if we need any assistance with anything we can call them.

"Local shops and businesses supported us by putting up posters and getting petitions signed, they have been amazing. We cannot thank them enough for all their support."

To sign the petition, please go to www.change.org and look for 'Make The Heybridge A414 Underpass Safe'.

A man is due to stand trial at Chelmsford Crown Court next month following an alleged rape near the same underpass on June 11.

KIND-HEARTED Chronicle readers have given loving homes to 170 battery hens that were heading for slaughter.

Fresh Start for Hens volunteer Angela Bass gave away the rescued chickens, originally from a Midlands farm, from her home on Saturday.

The 46-year-old, of Waterhouse Street, Chelmsford, said: "Since people read about the rehoming day in the Chronicle, there's been a lot of interest.

"Someone from the charity called me and asked how many I could take.

"When I asked why, she said, 'Well I don't know what you've done but we've had a lot of bookings in Essex'," said the mother-of-two, who adopted four hens of her own in 2013.

"Last time I rehomed about 40, so this has been generated by the Chronicle – it's fantastic.

"Chickens really do make great pets, they all have their own little personalities."

Across the country, the charity rescued around 2,500 hens over the weekend, with volunteers for various counties distributing them to people willing to take in a winged friend.

And Ms Bass was helped with the massive rehoming day by her parents, friends, and her son Rory, 16.

"I really like the rehoming," he said. "I like to be able to help. I was a bit surprised when my mum first got hens, but I like it now."

Between them, Chronicle readers managed to offer homes to 170 of the former working hens, which can no longer produce enough eggs for farms to consider them profitable, saving them from being sent to the slaughterhouse.

The charity buys the hens from farms, matching the £1.50 per hen the farm would make from the slaughterhouse, so that the farmers aren't losing out financially and the hens have a safe home.

There was a lot of flapping and excitement as the birds went to new homes, with families from far and wide pleased to take in a rescue hen.

James Isles, 36, from Nottage Crescent, Braintree, who took home four hens to add to his existing two, said: "We've had chickens for about four or five years, but we usually get them from a breeder, so this is the first time we've taken in rescue hens and I'm glad we did, because they look a bit dishevelled.

"I think they're the best pets you can have, and the eggs they produce are beautiful – way better than anything you'd get in the supermarket.

"I have two kids, Harlan, four, and Emilia, five, and they absolutely love it. If anything they're a bit over-enthusiastic, so we have to make sure they don't scare the chickens. They love stroking them – they have absolutely no fear."

And first-time hen owners were equally as delighted with their new pets.

Hetty King, 22, from Great Leighs, said after the event: "I took in four hens. My mum has hens, and when my friend mentioned that she was getting some rescue hens, I thought why not.

"It's really exciting, they're already laying eggs and I'm starting to see their little personalities come out – they're really starting to come out of their shells.

"I'm a real animal person, I have two dogs, a rabbit and now chickens.

"The dogs are quite curious, I don't think they've ever seen a chicken before – they have been looking at them in the run, but I'm not worried about them harassing the chickens, they're just curious.

"I've named them Ethel, Gertrude, Marjorie and Bertha, and Ethel lays every day.

"They were a bit timid when I got them."

Ms Bass is planning to help the charity out with its next rehoming day on Saturday, February 28.

For more information, visit: www.freshstartforhens.co.uk