A WOMAN who lost her mother to a terrible muscle-wasting disease is taking on a 2,500 mile cycling challenge to raise funds for charity in her memory.

Beccy Roberts lost her mum Ellie in April 2012 to Motor Neurone Disease.

Mrs Roberts, 35, subsequently decided to support the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MND Association) by doing "something massive" to make a difference.

She decided to tackle a marathon cycle trip around the UK, peddling up to 100 miles a day.

On Sunday, she will set off from London's Trafalgar Square and finish 18 days later after touring the country.

The cyclist, who works in advertising, will be starting the penultimate day of her epic trip in Brentwood on August 27.

She invites other cyclists to join her on this day, starting from the high street.

"By the time I get to Essex I will probably be broken," she said.

"I wanted to go through Brentwood – I have friends there and know the area well and lots of them will be coming out to support me.

"I have cycled all over the county and it's a lovely area to cover."

After leaving London her route will take her down the south coast before travelling west to Cornwall, right across to Land's End, where she will then cycle to Bristol.

She will cut through Wales and continue north to Cumbria and Scotland cycling through the Highlands, around the Isle of Sky and up to the north of Scotland.

Mrs Roberts will then head down the east coast through to Newcastle.

Then her route will take her through Brentwood, then down to Dover and completing the route in Trafalgar Square.

She has been training hard and was cycling 450 miles a week, getting up at 5am to cycle the three and a half hours before work and three and a half after.

Help will be given during the trip in the form of her father, Will Roberts, 69, who will be providing the support car, a converted campervan, which he has put the logo MND Association logo on.

She said: "It's incredible how many people have been affected by the disease but how little is known about it – I wanted to make a noise.

"The disease is torturous for the person who has it and those around them.

"My husband has been very supportive and so has my father – he raised his eyebrow when he first heard what I was doing but he knows how serious I am about it now."

Mrs Roberts has set a fundraising target of £10,000 and is nearly half way there already.

To track Beccy Roberts' ride and to sponsor her on her journey visit www.becsbigbikeride.com

A HIGHLY respected GP killed himself using an overdose of alcohol and anti-depressants after years struggling with mental health issues.

Dr Martin Bell, who worked at Whitley House Surgery in Writtle Road, Chelmsford, for more than two decades, was found dead at a friend's home in Old Harlow in February this year.

At an inquest into his death on Wednesday, it emerged the 53-year-old, who was born in Uganda, intentionally took his own life using a deadly mix of pills and alcohol.

"I have come to the sad conclusion that he intended to take his own life, I am sure of this having regard to the several notes he left, his history, and his clear suicidal ideations," said coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray.

"He was a medically qualified gentleman and he knew the effects of what he was taking."

The father-of-two had contacted a close friend on the evening of February 7 admitting his distress and suicidal thoughts, travelling to the friend's home to sleep that night.

The next morning he was found in the bedroom unresponsive, surrounded by empty bottles of wine, and pill packets, having taken his own life.

Following his sudden death colleagues and patients had flooded a tribute page with words of shock and dismay at the loss of a "much-beloved" doctor.

One contribution read: "This awful news is almost too sad for words. Thank you Martin for all the kindness and reassurance you showed me over so many years.

"You were not just a doctor but a highly respected and admired friend to so many patients."

The GP, who had twice completed the London Marathon, had battled depression for many years, and had been under both the care of The Priory, a private mental health rehabilitation centre, and the Mid-Essex health trust at the time of his death.

At the inquest at New Bridge House, Chelmsford, it was agreed that an action plan would be put in place to improve communication between both the public and private mental health sector, after it was agreed the current lack of communication was "unacceptable" and could lead to doubling up prescriptions.

"The court is very familiar with these kinds of issues, the themes are always the same and I hope that in seven days we will see an action plan that really means business," added the coroner.

YOUNGSTERS from the Cathedral School are showing the city the power of the environment – by winning a bench made out of recycled plastic for their school in a competition. The event, which was run by Chelmsford City Council in April and involved all infant and junior schools, asked students to use their artistic skills to create artwork from their leftover Easter egg foil.

Cathedral School's year 3 pupils won the competition by depicting two opposing scenes: one bright and colourful scene of the countryside, while the other showed litter, pollution and the consequences of not looking after the environment.

Councillor Janette Potter, Chelmsford City Council's Cabinet Member for Waste Management and Recycling, said: "This competition has given children the opportunity to creatively re-use something which might ordinarily be thrown away and has allowed teachers to address the topic of re-use and recycling."

On July 18, pupils and teachers joined the councillor to unveil the newly installed bench

A HARD-UP mother was able to feed her two children thanks to a Chelmsford food bank that has fed 1,500 people in similar difficulties in the past year.

Pamela Balagot, 26, of Moulsham Street, was forced to use the emergency service twice in the past 12 months to feed her children Marcus, six, and Philicia, two.

"We were having a really tough time – my partner had just lost his job and we hadn't got much money because we were waiting for the benefits to come through," she told the Chronicle.

"We had to pay the electricity – it was so high, so we couldn't afford to buy food.

"The health visitor for my daughter told us about the food bank, she arranged for me to look at their service."

The charity, which celebrated its first anniversary last month is based at Waterfront Place in Wharf Road. It helps the hungry by giving them emergency food supplies to tide them over temporarily before payday.

Police, doctors, the Citizen's Advice Bureau and social workers help the food bank identify needy recipients and vouchers are handed out, which are then exchanged for prepared food parcels.

The people who come through the charity's doors could be facing any situation – from losing a job, experiencing a relationship breakdown, debt, loss of income or benefit delays.

The parcels contain non-perishable food such as pasta, sauces, tinned fruit, soup, sugar and tea or coffee. The amount depends on whether the claimant is living alone or has a family.

Ms Balagot, who was a chef before she became a full-time mum, was pleased when she came to the food bank and picked up the food box for her family.

"I felt great because I did not expect for it to be that much, I was so happy," she said.

"It definitely is a lifeline. The children loved the pasta and the biscuits."

While the food charity, which relies completely on donations from the public, focuses on edible necessities, it also accepts other items.

The first time Ms Balagot went to the food bank, she found among the donated items a candle for her daughter's second birthday, which was on the next day.

"It was very touching and made it more special," she said.

"I am so grateful that the food bank helped us because we would not have had as much food."

It is something she hopes others will become aware of and use if needed.

"If more people support the food bank then they will be able to help more people who are in hunger," she said.

Project manager Ruth Leverett said: "Foodbank is a great project which brings people from all walks of life together.

"We're the crisis food place – we try to get our users lifelines to other organisations that we know about. People come in and they go out looking completely different.

"It's great bringing people together."

The food bank is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am to 12.30pm.

For more information, visit www.chelmsford.foodbank.org.uk, e-mail info@chelmsford.foodbank.org or call 01245 790769.

AN ARMY of drugs and alcohol advice specialists have more than doubled their numbers for this year's festival.

Charity Open Road will operate in every campsite, as opposed to simply beneath 'The Chill Out Tent' in the arena, as the numbers of people using legal highs soars.

"This is our biggest operation by far – I've been thinking about this for three months," said 25-year-old Wayne Powell, who despite usually coordinating Colchester's nighttime SOS bus service on weekend nights, will head-up the 85-strong V Festival team.

He added: "It was so hot last year. We found that people were actually leaving the main arena to go back to their tent to have a lie down and so we couldn't provide our service.

"The weather plays the biggest part. If you have drugs and alcohol and it's hot then the effects are going to be worse.

"This year, I don't know what to expect, it depends on the weather."

Mr Powell, who started working with the NHS when he was 18, advises festival-goers to keep hydrated, wear appropriate clothing, apply sun cream and not to drink too much alcohol.

"We encourage people not to take drugs to the festival, and not to take drugs at all, but if people are taking drugs, do not take them from people they don't know," said the ex-healthcare assistant.

"Legal highs are becoming a bigger problem and that is causing the most deaths. They are readily available and can be very dangerous. They often appear in bright coloured packages to make them popular with young people."

Open Road, which boasts 11 centres across East Anglia and more than 290 staff, specialise in providing counselling and family support.

At V Festival, Open Road, who will visit for their eighth year, will offer comfortable seating for revellers to chill out.

A 14TH century church has received £131,000 to help restore the historical place of worship to its former glory.

The grant, from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), will be used to repair structural and decorative elements of St Christopher's Church, in Willingale.

The Grade II-listed building is one of two churches in the churchyard of the leafy village – the second being the older and disused St Andrew's.

The restoration work at St Christopher's includes the replacement of crosses that adorn the roof and the replacement of structural masonry, known as quoins, along with the repair of one window.

Money will also go towards installing a new heating system.

Work is set to be completed by the summer of 2014.

Jane Cass, churchwarden and secretary to the Parochial Church Council, said: "This money will help restore the church to its former glory.

"It will ensure the church will carry on standing for many years to come and will make the outside match the inside.

"We try to do a lot the restoration and maintenance ourselves, but in this case we realised that the work was far too complicated.

"The church is in a beautiful location and has the Essex Way passing through the churchyard.

"It is amazing to find out we have received this funding.

"It would have been impossible to do the work without it."

The 61-year-old continued: "We're delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has given us this support.

"The church is very important for historical and landscape reasons but needing repairs.

"This project will restore the church and sustain its importance in the landscape.

"The new heating, along with all the other work that has been done inside, will make the church suitable for a wide range of purpose.

"It is very exciting and rewarding to be part of a revitalisation of the building and people associated with it."

Robyn Llewellyn, head of HLF East of England, said; "There is a place of worship in almost every village and town across the eastern counties of England, providing a very powerful visual connection with our past.

"Not only will Lottery players' money help to secure the immediate survival of these remarkable buildings, it will also encourage congregations to adapt these buildings so they can be enjoyed more widely throughout the community, and in turn enable them to be more sustainable for the future."

Built in 1320, and extended extensively over the years, St Christopher's Church was last year restored on the inside, also with the help of a Lottery grant.

As part of this restoration the bells were restored by members of the community.

THESE security-fenced and boarded-up homes in Brockley Road, Chelmsford, have been empty for over a decade.

Bu they are just seven of the 1,397 empty properties in Chelmsford, which could potentially accommodate a third of the 4,192 people on the council's housing waiting list.

The picture is similar across Essex as in Braintree there are 3,853 people on the housing waiting list, despite there being 2,675 vacant properties, while in Maldon 1,304 are waiting for homes when there are 211 empty properties.

Today just one elderly man lodges in Brockley Road, off Navigation Road.

Paul Matthams, who has lived at number six for 40 years, has watched all his neighbours come and go and is now the only resident, although alcohol rehabilitation charity Helping Hands leases the house at the end of the road.

The 67-year-old admitted he is not so bothered about living alone, but is more worried that the lack of occupied homes may mean he eventually will have to leave.

"I don't want to leave," said retired Paul, who is registered disabled, "I want to stay here.

"It is not like I wouldn't want neighbours, everyone wants good neighbours to help them out when you need it.

"But they're never going to do up these houses, they're wrecked, all the wiring has been gutted out of them, there are rats and it will cost a lot of money to do up.

"They did up the end two houses and changed them to office use and left the rest – why I don't know."

Paul, who worked as a greengrocer in Witham, used to rise in the early hours, so never saw much of his neighbours.

But speaking about Helping Hands, who run their rehab centre next door, he said: "They haven't caused me any major problems and the work they do is really rewarding, and yes it is nice having them around. But they are only here on a temporary lease, so in that respect they know they will be moving on from this area eventually.

"It's just my opinion but with the John Lewis and Waitrose developments happening in the city centre, I can't see anything really happening over here for years."

The council acquired the properties and the land to the back of Brockley Road over different times with the intention of developing the area.

As the land was all bought separately, it has meant that during the time it took to acquire it, the houses on Brockley Road have fallen into disrepair.

The council is now looking at a redevelopment scheme for the whole of Lockside area, which includes Brockley Road and the land near to the canal, and hope to draw up plans by the end of the year.

Ron Sewell, 47, a sprayer at Brockley Road Bodyworks, has been working at the company for 15 years and said he has always seen the street boarded up.

"It really is an eyesore," he said.

"I've been in and out of the garage for about 15 years, and I've never seen anything happen here.

"I just don't understand why they would do up the end houses and not do the whole stretch."

City councillor and opposition spokesman for housing, Graham Pooley, is also a staff member at Helping Hands which resides on the street.

Cllr Pooley said: "The tragedy is that they didn't keep the houses occupied until it was confirmed that development was actually going ahead.

"Now nothing can be done about it – it is not economically repairable and it is something that the council should be embarrassed about.

"At the same time they should be embarrassed that nothing has happened on Brockley Road and yet they are developing neighbouring Hill Road South.

"The housing crisis is acute, particularly the amount of affordable housing around.

"Yes, the homes might have housed a small group had it been filled at the time.

"We are very grateful to have this office space, but know that we will be moved on at some point as our lease only lasts another 18 months.

"It is just a shame that more couldn't have been done with the other buildings."

THE man leading a 150-strong V Festival police team insists the quality of policing across the county will not be sacrificed for the Hylands Park event.

V Festival organisers are paying Essex Police for the service, who will in turn provide officers who would not usually work at the weekend.

The force refused to disclose how much it is being paid.

Chief superintendent Andy Prophet, whose team have been preparing for about three months, said: "V Festival is right up there with the biggest policing events we have.

"We plan very carefully for V and can ensure that normal policing for the rest of the county will be ensured.

"V is an additional service rather than a substitute for other services."

Mr Prophet is also warning festival-goers they will be asked to leave, and their wrist bands confiscated, if they enter the site with drugs, including legal highs.

Last year 70 revellers were arrested on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs and for violence, but Mr Prophet stressed this was an impressively low number considering 180,000 people attend over the weekend.

"Anyone who has been to V in Essex will know there is a real community atmosphere and this is why it's sold out each year," he said.

"However, there are also those who come with the aim of selling drugs, peddling dodgy merchandise and stealing belongings.

"It's going to be very busy but my feeling is the local residents are very used to V after many, many years. There is no suggestion to say it will be anything other than a great weekend.

"In the past, I am not aware of any local people reporting issues of concern."

Manning Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, which scan number plates and check them against a national database, Essex Police will line the roads outside Hylands Park trying to catch potential criminals entering.

"We don't mean to hinder law- abiding motorists but instead want to weed out any criminals entering with perhaps stolen cars," said Mr Prophet. "There will also be speed restrictions in place to get people in and out efficiently."

ESSEX worshippers have embarked on a pilgrimage to retrace the route taken by a saint on his last journey to his final resting place.

From 5th to 9th August, 20 pilgrims from Chelmsford Diocese walked the 85 miles from St Paul's Cathedral to St Edmundsbury Cathedral in a journey that mirrored that of St Edmund, King of East Anglia and first patron saint of England, whose body was taken through Essex from London to Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk 1,000 years ago.

The pilgrimage started at St Paul's on Monday, where St Edmund's body was kept for safety from Viking raiders between 1010 and 1013. Before arriving at St Edmundsbury last Friday, the pilgrimage stopped at various points in Essex, including Greensted, home to the oldest wooden church in the world, and where the saint's body is believed to have rested, and Chelmsford Cathedral.

Canon Philip Banks, Precentor at St Edmundsbury, and formerly Vicar of Coggeshall in Essex for nearly twenty years, said on their arrival in Chelmsford: "This pilgrimage is important because it commemorates the 1,000th anniversary of the transferral of the body of St Edmund from St Paul's to St Edmundsbury."

The historical significance of the pilgrimage is clearly not lost either on organiser Nick Ellis from Castle Hedingham, who said: "I have organised many walks over the years. But being involved in planning this pilgrimage is by far my biggest project so far. It is not every day that I work with a team celebrating an early Patron Saint of England."

A TRAVELLER site in a hamlet near Great Notley has been given the go-ahead by Uttlesford Council despite widespread objections from nearby residents.

The one-pitch site in Bartholomew Green was approved by councillors by seven votes to four with two abstentions at a planning meeting held last Wednesday.

Darren Buckley, 40, currently of Clockhouse Way in Braintree, has owned the overgrown smallholding for around 20 years but only put in an application to live there on June 12 this year.

Residents' objections relate to Mr Buckley's previous convictions for fly-tipping in 2009, in which he was found guilty of illegally dumping drums of chemical fertiliser in Sible Hedingham, forcing police and fire services to shut the road.

While clearing the site two of the council workers began to feel ill, complaining of a "burning sensation" on their tongues and were later taken to hospital.

Mr Buckley pleaded not guilty but magistrates ruled he was not a credible witness and fined him and another man £250 and gave the pair a 12-month community order to do 200 hours of unpaid work.

A 260-strong petition from residents along with more than 60 letters of objection from people living near the site were sent to the council.

Cllr Vic Ranger said: "This is a speculative development as much as it is generally accepted that the applicant is not a gypsy or traveller.

"It seems there is a section of society that is treated differently because of their ethnic background, but it's not that we object to travellers being in our community – it's that this section of society is given preference in a way that would not be afforded to other residents.

"If this was a normal residential application it would not have been allowed because there's not enough garden space.

"They know how to use planning regulations to get traveller applications approved by using the sustainability argument.

"But it's clearly not sustainable – it's a long way from any amenities and the access entrance is on to a dangerous road."

Speaking prior to his application, Mr Buckley said: "I've not dumped anything here, there's just a bit of hedging. It's only me here so if it gets approved that will be handy."

His application has been handled by Green Planning Solutions, run by Matthew Green, a former Lib Dem MP turned planning expert now dubbed "the gypsy king" due to the company's high number of planning cases involving travellers.

Mark Ault, 46, has lived in Bartholomew Green for many years.

He told the Chronicle: "This proposal is contrary to the council's own planning policy which seeks to protect the countryside from development.

"This is not a sustainable location, as it is isolated, some distance from services and facilities and where public transport is very limited.

"The council's officers are saying that there is a need for gypsy sites within the district which overrides the countryside protection policies, which is based on an incorrect interpretation of planning policy and is not backed up by up-to-date evidence. "The council has not properly sought to establish either the need or the best locations for sites, which it should have done through the preparation of a local plan."

An Uttlesford District Council spokesman said: "Applications for traveller sites are determined in accordance with the national planning policy guidance.

"This will continue to be the case until we are provided with an up-to-date assessment of the need for these sites across Essex which is currently being drawn up by all the local authorities in the county.

"This assessment will tell us how many traveller pitches are required in Uttlesford and enable us to identify the extent of the shortfall we acknowledge currently exists in the district and draw up proposals to meet it.

"Comprehensive and detailed advice on the relevant national policy guidance was taken into account by the planning committee in coming to its decision with regards to the Felsted application."

FEAR of the dark is one the few base instincts hard-wired into the human brain and to be scared of the unknown is only natural, but are these apprehensions grounded in reality?

Trials of similar schemes in Maldon and Uttlesford have not shown an increase in crime, but crime dropped nationally anyway. And in Bristol and parts of the Midlands crime dropped by as much as 50 per cent.

So are burglars as afraid of the dark as the rest of us? Does this mean thieves are less inconspicuous if they have to carry torches around whilst committing their crimes?

Most people will be tucked up safely in bed when the lights are turned off, but for those walking the streets after midnight, the prospect of not being able to see where you're going must seem a daunting one.

The county council argues it will save money, but the scheme will take at least six years to break even.

Cllr Rodney Bass, the man behind the plans, would not speak to us directly, instead issuing a statement via the authority's press office.

Our attempts to photograph the central hub at County Hall that will eventually control the county's street lights were also rejected because they were worried it did not look impressive enough!

What do you think of the plans?

BRAINTREE MP Brooks Newmark has slammed Essex County Council's proposals to switch off selected street lights after midnight as "disastrous".

From September 1 council-owned street lamps in the town will be turned off until 5am in a bid to save £90,000 a year.

Once fully operational across the county, the switch-off would shave 20 per cent off the council's annual £4.5 million energy bill.

Mr Newmark said: "I'm completely opposed this – it's an absolutely disastrous idea – mainly for security reasons.

"Lots of people walk home at night and not everyone has their own car, especially in winter months.

"Don't just switch off all the lights, come up with other energy-saving devices, like energy efficient light bulbs or only switching off every other light in a street.

"I'm all for energy-saving and money-saving moves, but switching all the lights off isn't one of them."

But Graham Butland, leader of Braintree District Council, said: "I fully support the scheme. There were few objections during the 12-month consultation."

The scheme was initially trialled in Maldon and Uttlesford from 2007, and saw a 14 and 12.6 per cent drop in crime respectively during that period.

But critics question whether that can be directly linked to the lights going off.

Areas such as town centres, major road junctions and lighting installed on accident blackspots will be exempt from the blackout, but many residential streets will be left in gloom.

CHELMSFORD hurdling sensation Hayley McLean has been helping youngsters from the city get excited about sport, writes Emily Clark.

McLean, 18, recently won gold at the European Junior Championships, and last week was at the Chelmsford Sports and Athletics Centre for a special event.

She showed off her medal to the group – aged between eight and ten – and help them to find what they are most passionate about in sport.

McLean said: "It's very important for young people to participate and get involved. I started when I was 11 which isn't really young enough, so starting them at eight, they're at that budding age!

"No one is ever sure what they will excel at or what they will most enjoy so things like this give them a chance to try things out.

"I think it's quite inspiring and they were quite fascinated."

She feels that her feat could be motivation for the youngsters. "I've gone through all the stages that they're going through now," she said.

McLean, a member of Chelmsford Athletics Club, admitted she was "speechless" after her success in Rieti, and has set her sights on next year's Commonwealth Games, and is also targeting the Rio Olympics in 2016.

"I keep having to look at the medal and check it was all real," she added.

"My family are fantastic, they're always driving me from A to B, I have no time to learn to drive!

"I want to say a huge thank you to my coach, who is now training me full-time.

"I'm so grateful to everyone who has given up their time."

ANIMAL rights activists are continuing to target a Chelmsford pet shop by picketing the entrance and scaring away customers.

The Essex Animal Defenders, who are against puppy-farming and the pet shop trade, gathered again outside Aquapets in Moulsham Street last week – the eighth time since they began their campaign in May.

Michelle Pawsey, 48, who has owned the store for 32 years, says allegations that her dogs come from puppy farms and other pets are ill-treated and unfounded.

"I buy my puppies through private sellers and people whose pets have had litters at home," she told the Chronicle.

"They then have full health checks and vaccinations. They are then kept in quarantine for seven days before they can come into the shop.

"The protesters don't like the sale of animals for profit, but what about those selling puppies online on Gumtree and from their homes, that is purely for profit?"

The shop was prosecuted in July 2010 after the Chelmsford City Council's Environmental Services investigated the premises after complaints from members of the public.

Mrs Pawsey pleaded guilty to three breaches of her pet shop licence conditions in relation to record keeping and segregation of different litters of kittens.

She was also found guilty of accepting puppies onto the premises before seven days had expired after they were vaccinated against the Canine Parvo Virus, a debilitating disease which can be fatal to puppies.

She was hit with £1,340 in fines and costs at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court.

But Mrs Pawsey claims the charges simply related to a paperwork mishap in which she failed to record a customer's address after they bought a kitten.

Members of Essex Animal Defenders claim they have received complaints from people who have bought animals from the shop, but they did not have any evidence to support these alleged complaints.

Group spokesperson Marcia Hagon, who travels from Romford to protest in Chelmsford, said: "Some pet owners were not sure about the sources where Aquapets are getting their animals from, but really we're here about the pet shop trade, puppy farming and the conditions in which the animals are kept.

Mrs Hagon added: "Pet shops generally don't home check anyone, you can go in and ask for a hamster and two kittens and they will just send you away with them."

Mrs Pawsey still denies any practice which is against the law and feels the protests are unnecessary and invalid.

"Pet shops have to operate under a licence and the laws and regulations we have to co-operate under are so strict," she said.

"I have to operate under these laws or I would lose my licence."

HUNDREDS of pounds of taxpayers' cash has been spent on at least 24 failed attempts to fix a door, leaving elderly residents at the end of their tether.

Despite a locksmith being called out on no fewer than two dozen occasions over the past 12 months, the front door at Juniper Court in Beech Avenue, Brentwood, has still not been fixed.

It means that instead of feeling safe behind a properly locking door, the elderly and sometimes frail tenants live with constant anxiety about who is able to stroll unhindered into the brown-brick building.

Joan Nibbs, 85, has lived in the Brentwood Borough Council-owned sheltered accommodation for the past seven years.

She said: "The door is totally insecure and anyone can just walk in. It hasn't worked for ages.

"I don't know what the problem has been, I think the council's biggest fear was having to possibly cut keys for each resident.

"Residents are very concerned that we could get broken into at any point and we are always having to make a deliberate point of locking our flats to make sure no one can walk into them."

Mrs Nibbs said she had lost faith in the council due to its inability to successfully repair the door.

Tony Read, 67, has lived at Juniper Court for the past five years.

"The council keep coming down to fix the door but they keep messing it up," he said.

"The last time it was broken was for three days.

"After all the call-outs, they could have bought a new one. The whole thing is ridiculous."

Malcolm Knights, head of housing at Brentwood Borough Council, said: "We have made several repairs over the last few months to the lock on the external door at Juniper Court.

"These special locks are complex and expensive so we make every effort to mend them in order to avoid the greater cost of replacement.

"However, repairs in this case have been unsuccessful and so a new lock is being fitted in the next few days.

"The door is not being replaced and residents will be able to use their existing keys with the new lock."

SIX years after a talented sportsman killed himself in a low-security mental health unit, his family have praised a new centre opened in his name.

Ed Jackson, 18, who was thought to have had schizophrenia, hanged himself in 2007 at Colchester's Maple Unit.

The £5 million Edward House at Chelmsford's Linden Centre welcomed its first 20 patients on Thursday, August 8.

A week earlier, on Thursday, August 1, Ed's parents Jayne and Arthur, and younger brother Ben, travelled from their home in Suffolk, to unveil a plaque in memory of a "healthy, happy and bright lad" at the new centre on Puddings Wood Lane.

The centre's chief executive and manager have both hailed the 1,700 square metre site as a "statement of change".

A family statement reads: "We are very pleased to have Ed – our wonderful son – remembered in this way. Although it is a very painful memory, we do feel we need to speak up.

"We are pleased to see resources going into a modern up-to-date facility. However, we know that a service is only as good as the people who work in it."

The statement adds: "During our short dealings with the Mental Health Services, we assumed the professionals were the experts but, what we came to realise was that we, his family, were the real experts about Ed.

"We ask you to listen to relatives with an open mind. Health professionals have great power and we ask that you use your power wisely and with compassion.

"By naming this unit after Ed we are entrusting you with his good name. If it lives up to the ideals we've mentioned, Edward House will have been well-named; for our much-missed son."

An inquest in October 2011 concluded the balance of Ed's mind was disturbed.

A verdict ruled that ineffective communication at the unit, inadequate risk assessment and a lack of therapeutic activities contributed to his death.

At 6ft 4in, Ed was described as a brilliant footballer, keen biker, runner and fisher, as well as boasting ten GCSEs.

In 2008, nurses at the North Essex Partnership approached the family asking if they would put Ed's name to a new centre for patients aged 18 and over.

North Essex Partnership chief executive Andrew Geldard thanked the "compassionate" staff who made the project work.

The partnership, which provides mental health, substance misuse and social care services to 23,600 clients, funded the new centre entirely from its own funds.

Joined by about 70 others at the opening, Mr Geldard, said: "This is a good day to be a Foundation Trust and when the real point of being a Foundation Trust shines out.

"Good luck to all at Edward House – to the staff and to the patients who will look back on their time here as the beginning of their recovery."

FOUR "perilous" parking places created next to a blind bend have been labelled an accident waiting to happen.

The on-street bays were marked out in Tree Tops, Brentwood, by contractors working on behalf of Essex County Council.

Yet residents say the spaces have forced motorists to go on to the wrong side of the road around a blind bend to pass them.

Brian Davis, 71, of Tree Tops, said: "We have resorted to beeping our horns before we go round to prevent an accident, which must be annoying to the people who live on that corner.

"It is an accident waiting to happen – I just can't believe they thought it was a good idea.

"They probably didn't even think.

"I have tried everything to get it (the council) to move them.

"I have been on to my councillors, who say it isn't their responsibility.

"Apparently, it is run by a parking partnership, which is particularly hard to get any response from."

The retired civil engineer continued: "The Highway Code clearly states that you should not go on to the other side of the road unless you can see it is clear.

"These parking spaces make it impossible to see – you just guess and risk it.

"It seems to be a case that nothing is being done until an accident does actually happen.

"The council has done nothing, the councillors are doing nothing – I am the end of my tether and it has gone on for too long.

"You just have to wonder what was going through the head of the people that put them there.

"Of all the places to put in parking, this had to be the worst.

"I think they are saying they will now move one of the parking places to the entrance of the road, which will just cause even more problems.

"If two cars coming through that road had a head-on collision, it could be potentially deadly.

"Never mind if someone stepped out from between the cars or tried to cross.

"This problem needs to be highlighted."

On-street parking in Brentwood is the responsibility of the South Essex Parking Partnership (SEPP), run by Chelmsford City Council.

As a result, a spokeswoman for Brentwood Borough Council said it was unable to comment.

Lib Dem borough councillor James Sapwell, whom Mr Davis has approached about the issue, said: "I have spoken to an Essex County Council Highways officer, who has admitted that changes could be made.

"However,it is yet to make these changes and it has become a case where everyone can see what is wrong, but the council is not doing anything about it.

"It should get its act together and get started on the work."

A spokesman for SEPP said: "The bays in this road precede the formation of the South Essex Parking Partnership.

"This road has been assessed by Essex County Council for health and safety, and discussed with the lead officer and member for Brentwood Council with the SEPP technicians.

"This cul-de-sac does not have any police-reported accidents recorded, and is not considered to be dangerous.

"The existing parking restrictions are not under consideration for revision."

Essex County Council declined to comment.

A PAIR of cockatiels has taken flight - after a daring escape from a cage.

Captain, the recently bought pet of the Chandler family, is believed to have been freed from his garden cage by a rogue cockatiel.

The grey and yellow cockatiel, accused of unlatching the door to the wooden garden enclosure, had been spotted in the vicinity in the weeks running up to the escape.

Bridget Chandler, 30, and two-year-old daughter Crystel, of Crescent Road, Chelmsford, were so upset following the great escape that they bought a budgie as a replacement.

Mother-of-three Mrs Chandler said: "I'm gutted. He is our Captain, but it is my daughter who was really upset. I had to get her the budgie because she was crying.

"I think the wild cockatiel might have freed Captain – it's a bit of a Romeo and Juliet escape plan."

The Chandlers, who own a horse, chickens, ducks and a lizard, bought Captain for £40 about three months ago from a Broomfield Road pet shop.

Last month neighbours told them a wild cockatiel, whose owners are still unidentified, was flying around the outside of their property, and was seen perching on their roof.

On Tuesday of last week, Martin Stimson, of nearby Hillside Grove, Moulsham Lodge, contacted the Chronicle after spotting the bird swooping over gardens in the neighbourhood.

It was later that same day, as Mrs Chandler was tending to her chickens with her back to the cage, that the escape is believed to have taken place.

"I came out to feed my chickens and the cockatiels were calling to each other. It has never gone out of its cage before. They must have worked together," she said.

"I could then hear them up in the trees but there was no chance I was going to go up and get them. If anyone sees it let us know."

Anglia Ruskin University researcher Dr Rachel Grant, who specialises in the behaviour of parrot species, said the family's 'great escape' theory was "not impossible".

"The cockatiel is not as intelligent as other parrots as it has been widely domesticated," she said.

"But the wild cockatiel was probably fiddling with the cage through trial and error. They investigate with their beaks any sort of latch, nuts or bolds. It would be that rather than a calculated escape."