BEEKEEPERS say they are being deluged with more than 30 calls a day to move the wrong type of bees.

Chelmsford Beekeepers' Association says it primarily deals with honeybees, which have up to 50,000 in a colony, and not tree bumblebees, an invasive species which have far less.

Association secretary Brian Spencer, who has been keeping honeybees for seven years, said: "At this time of year bees generally swarm and the tree bumblebee likes blue tit boxes, gutters and soffit boards.

"They only have about 100 bees in a colony, but when drones find a nesting colony they fly around outside it like crazy, but they have no sting."

Drones are male bees attempting to mate with a virgin queen and can be present all day every day for a few weeks.

Mr Spencer, of Links Drive, Chelmsford, added: "If you leave them a couple of weeks they will calm down and you'll be left with two to three bumblebees flying about."

Tree bumblebees, which originated from Europe and Asia, first came to the country in 2001.

It is not known how they got to the UK.

They produce very little honey and live in far smaller colonies than honeybees, which number tens of thousands.

Speaking on Friday, Mr Spencer said: "I've had 27 calls today up until two o'clock and ten missed calls, and a lot of them are about tree bumblebees.

"Unless they are in a really inconvenient place like in front of a doorway, I would leave them there as they will be fine – or phone pest control."

Stuart Roberts, chairman of the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society, said the organisation had received a record number of sightings in 2013 and 2014.

"The colonisation and spread of this beautiful bee has been extremely rapid," he said.

THE Salvation Army shop in Maldon wants shoppers to donate their unwanted clothes, unsightly shoes and unfashionable accessories.

The store, based on the High street, is taking part in the national Open Your Hearts and Wardrobes campaign which started on Monday with an appeal to local people to clear out their wardrobes and bring their unwanted clothes to the shop.

Store manager for the last three years, Kevin Jennings, 34, told the Chronicle: "It's a fantastic idea.

"We all have clothes in the back of our wardrobe we never wear and by donating them you are helping all of the good work that the Salvation Army do with child trafficking, the homeless and other good causes.

"One T-shirt can provide a family with water for a month, one handbag could help one victim of child trafficking with essential toiletries for a month and one pair of trousers could provide a hot meal for a starving family for a month."

The Salvation army estimate that an average UK household owns around £4,000 worth of clothes, but about 30 per cent has not been worn in the last year.

They also estimate that 31 per cent of used clothing, up to 350,000, tonnes goes to landfill in the UK every year.

"This shop has got some incredible customers that are very loyal so I'd appeal to them to have a clear out and give us your unwanted clothes," said Mr Jennings, who lives in Maldon with his partner.

"Even the clothes that we can't sell to people in store will get used as they are sent to Eastern Europe where they are donated to people for free."

The Salvation Army is also running another campaign called the Rebag and Refill scheme.

Each 'Rebag' costs 99p with a £2 goodwill gesture given to each customer that buys one and refill bins are free with regular free collections made to your home or place of work when they are full.

"We have a lot of really worthy campaigns," added Mr Jennings. "The refill bags are a great way of speaking to your local community and getting their clothes – once they are filled they get picked up for free.

"This shop isn't just a place where people hand in their unwanted goods we can do much from these places – by simply handing in your clothes you can benefit so many people."

INVESTIGATIONS into allegations of fraud, corruption and bribery have been made against 40 county council staff in three years, it has been revealed.

A quarter of those probes for the past three financial years up to last April resulted in sackings, while five decided to resign after being confronted with evidence.

Six were given written warnings, five had informal disciplinaries and two were given management advice.

In nine allegations there was no case to answer, while two are ongoing.

Leader of Essex County Council, Councillor David Finch, said: "Our employees are vital in maintaining the integrity of the council and ensuring the proper rules and regulations are followed.

"We have a number of ways that employees can raise genuine concerns, including a confidential hotline.

"This information is easy to access and forms part of our training programme.

"There are very few of these issues at the council, but any allegation is taken seriously and fully investigated.

"Any employee raising a concern is provided with the necessary support throughout and after any investigation."

In the past financial year, one employee was sent packing for failure to disclose information, another was absence-related and a third for breach of policy.

The year before, two workers resigned and four were sacked following investigations into making information up; while another lost their job one for failing to disclose information.

Five people were dismissed during 2011/12. Two employees lost their jobs following investigations into inappropriate time-keeping, one resigned following allegations of misappropriation of assets; one was for a breach of policy / conflict of interest, while a fifth related to inaccurate mileage claims.

The figures were released in a Freedom of Information request to County Hall, which also showed just over a quarter of the investigations were as a result of whistleblowing.

The 11 cases led to one staff member being sacked and two disciplinaries, while eight resulted in no further actions.

There was also a reported whistleblowing case against a councillor made in 2012/3 but the allegation proved unfounded.

But there were two investigations involving councillors on fraud, corruption and bribery charges. In one case the allegation was proved unfounded. Further action is under consideration for a case dating to 2011/12.

A 13-YEAR-OLD girl confined to a faulty electric wheelchair is looking to raise almost £20,000 so she can buy a new one – and has invited her whole village to the fundraising party and will even shave her head.

Philippa Smith, who lives in Wycke Lane in Tollesbury, was born ten weeks prematurely and suffers from cerebral palsy so has to use an electric wheelchair to get around.

But for the last few years the chair, which she got in 2009, started to lose charge, meaning that it stops, often in the most inconvenient places, like on a school trip in France when the battery went flat.

"The battery was really flat and it kept running out having charged it the whole night. It would run out after 30 minutes," said Philippa, who said that her classmates had to push her.

"I was on flat ground, I drive along and it will stop and start. I would have to be really slow for the rest of the day. It's annoying, say if I'm trying to keep up with my friends, but they stay behind.

"It has been kind of flat since the beginning, it just would not charge and it would say that it was charging. We had to buy a whole new battery, it was a lot of money.

"But in this new wheelchair, I will feel like it's more safe. It's higher. I will be able to reach things. I'll certainly feel like I can rely on my wheelchair a bit more."

Her mum Caroline, 41, said: "You don't want her to be missing out on what everyone else is up to. The chairs are big and heavy and you have to trust it.

"It's the everyday stuff – she is just going around with her mates in the playground and it stops and starts but there she is safe.

"But now she goes out on her own and what would happen if she was in the middle of Colchester High Street or crossing the road?"

The new chair, which costs around £23,000, is being partially funded by £3,000 worth of NHS vouchers – but the family are looking to raise the rest.

Caroline continued: "The chair will just include her in so much more and give her confidence.

"If you are sitting all day in the same position, you can get comfortable. But when you are at school you are in one position but when you are at home you are in a different position.

"She's permanently in the chair. She's completely dependent on it."

And later this month at 4pm on Saturday, June 21, Philippa, her three siblings Matthew, Samantha and Georgina, along with Caroline, are set to hold a fundraising fair in their back garden to raise the £19,800 needed – which includes the plucky youngster having her head shaved with people being charged £1 a snip.

The fair will also include a lucky dip, raffle, table tennis, football and darts – as well as music by local children and musicians, along with food and drink.

"We have a parish magazine that I have put an advert in and there are posters up in her school," said Caroline.

"We have put it up on lampposts, we have printed off some to put in our neighbours' doors to let them come along and maybe about 20 posters around the town.

"I would like to get 100 people but I have promises from friends that they are coming, so hopefully we will get a few if no one comes," added Philippa.

For more information about the day, contact Caroline Smith on 01621 869 121.

A CLEANER has been handed a suspended sentence for defrauding more than £30,000 in housing benefit payments.

Pascale Du Bois, 47, of Cusak Road, Springfield, pleaded guilty to two counts of benefit fraud between 2009 and 2013 after failing to tell Chelmsford City Council that her partner and son, 16, were living with her.

Du Bois claimed she was living alone and also claimed employment support allowance.

Alistair Lockhart, representing Chelmsford City Council, said: "She indicated her partner had moved back to Jersey and out of the property and so the housing benefit payment was made on the basis that she was living alone."

Overpayments of £18,584 in housing benefit and £14,721 in employment support allowance were paid to her.

Gavin Burrell, defending, said: "This claim was not made fraudulently from the outset, she doesn't have a great deal of support from her partner and is just focusing on ensuring her son is cared for."

A statement read out by judge Recorder Rex Bryan said: "She feels she was only taking what was rightfully hers. She is a little unhappy that the system doesn't cater for when someone is there and then not there."

Du Bois was given a six month prison term, suspended for two years, 100 hours unpaid work and an £80 victim surcharge.

AN AMATEUR historian researching her former home accidentally stumbled upon the dog tag of an airmen killed in a plane crash.

Ann Brooker was looking into the history of her former home East Court Farm in Gillingham, where she lived up until a year before it was struck by a B26.

Researching online, she ended up at the Essex Record Office in Wharf Road, Chelmsford.

Ann, who lives in Thorpe Bay, said: "I was told there was a lot of information in the records office. That included a photo of a dog tag belonging to Edward F Bailey, who lost his life in the collision and that his family in the USA would love to have it returned to them. I searched the documents eventually coming to a page which had two things stuck to it.

"Turning the page, his metal dog tag fell on the floor. I was moved to tears."

CASES heard by Chelmsford and Colchester magistrates from Tuesday, April 22 to Saturday, May 5.

Sent to prison 

MICHAEL ALLAN JONES, 22, of Coggeshall Road, Braintree, was sent to prison for 16 weeks for committing a serious offence at Braintree on March 9, while subject to a suspended sentence order, and has previous convictions for similar convictions.

He was given eight weeks consecutive for damaging a security window to the value of £100 belonging to Essex Police; eight weeks concurrent for damaging a wing mirror valued at £100 on a vehicle belonging to Melvin Griffiths; eight weeks concurrent for causing £750 of damage to a Daewoo Matiz belonging to Elizabeth Entwistle-Jones; eight weeks concurrent for damaging a Peugeot 308 of an unknown value, belonging to Lyndsey Ward; and eight weeks concurrent for assaulting Matthew Mead by beating him.

He was also resentenced for the original offences for which suspended sentences had been imposed during 2013, making a total of 16 weeks to serve in prison.

Suspended sentence

VOLKAN YIGIT, 42, of Nelson Gardens, Braintree, was given a 12 week, suspended prison sentence.

He was given six weeks for stealing an electric razor valued at £199 from Sainsbury’s in Braintree on October 2, and six weeks consecutive for taking a razor valued at £199, also from Sainsbury’s in Braintree on October 10.

The defendant was also given two six week concurrent sentences for making false representations by selling the razors to Cash Converters in Braintree on October 2 and October 10.

He must pay £80 compensation and a £80 victim surcharge.

ROBERT COURT, 43, of The Glebe, Purleigh, was given a ten week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, for failing to notify Maldon District Council (MDC) on or about September 3, 2012, of a change of circumstances that would affect his entitlement to housing and council tax payment.

He was also given ten weeks concurrent for making a false statement to the Department for Work and Pensions on or about August 11, 2012; and ten weeks concurrent for failing to notify MDC that he was working on or about April 1, 2013, that would have affected his entitlement to Council Tax Support.

He must pay £5,000 compensation and must carry out 200 hours of unpaid, supervised work within the next 12 months.

Assault

VICTORIA KATE HYMERS, 29, of Syers Field, Blackmore End, Braintree, was fined £135 for assaulting a Police Constable in the execution of her duty at Braintree on November 30.

She was also fined £205 and disqualified from driving for two years for driving whilst unfit to drive through drink.

She must also pay a £20 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

SIMON CHRISTIAN WATKINS, 37, of Mill Gate Cottages, Aythorpe Roding, was given a 12 month conditional discharge for assaulting a Police Constable in the execution of his duty at Great Dunmow on April 3.

The defendant must pay £100 compensation, a £15 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

SIMON PETER HOLDING, 44, of Feering Hill, Feering, was fined £800 for assaulting Kevin Cooke by beating him at Kelvedon on May 16 last year.

He was also ordered to pay £264 compensation for damaging a pair of glasses to the value of £150 belonging to Mr Cooke, and must pay an £80 victim surcharge and £300 costs to the CPS.

Breach of order

MATTHEW GETTINGS, 27, of Coronation Avenue, Braintree, was fined £50 for failing to attend appointments on March 27 and April 3, as required by a community order made on October 1.

He must pay a £20 surcharge and £50 costs.

DENNIS WOOLLARD, 32, of High Street, Braintree, was ordered to carry out an additional ten hours unpaid, supervised work within the next 12 months, in addition to the original requirements of a community order made on January 14.

The defendant had failed to attend two appointments on March 23 and April 6. He must pay £50 costs.

Criminal damage

ALYSON JENNINGS , 49, of Nelson Gardens, Braintree, was given a 12 month conditional discharge for threatening to cause damage to the home and contents belonging to Daniel Jennings at Braintree on April 20.

She was ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

Drugs - possession
ABDUL JAHED MIAH, 25, of Cross Road, Maldon, was given a community order for possessing 16g of cannabis, a controlled class B drug, at Maldon on March 10.

He was ordered to carry out 60 hours of unpaid, supervised work within the next 12 months, pay a £60 victim surcharge, £85 costs to the CPS, and forfeit the drugs and have them destroyed.

PAUL RICHARD PETER THORNE, 49, of Charnwood Avenue, Chelmsford, was fined £110 for possessing 0.5g of crack cocaine, a controlled class A drug, at Chelmsford on April 7 and 0.3g of amphetamine, a controlled class B drug.

He must also pay a £20 victim surcharge and must forfeit the drugs and have them destroyed.

LLOYD BRIDGE, 25, of Mill Lane, Salcott, was given a community order for possessing 3.1g of cocaine, a controlled class A drug, at Maldon on February 1.

He was ordered to have treatment for drug dependency for six months and attend appointments with a responsible officer.

He must pay a £60 victim surcharge, £85 costs to the CPS and forfeit the drugs and have them destroyed.

Social Security offences

DARRYL WAYNE SEAMAN, 32, of Ridgeway, Maldon, was given a community order for failing to notify Maldon District Council of a change of circumstances that would affect his entitlement to housing benefit on February 18, 2013.

He was working, was no longer in receipt of job seekers’ allowance and had vacated the property he had claimed benefit for.

The defendant must carry out 80 hours of unpaid, supervised work within the next 12 months and pay £2,400 compensation.

Theft – shoplifting

KURTISS JOHN BAXTER, 39, of Brockley Road, Chelmsford, was given a community order for stealing four bottles of fragrance to the value of £146 from Debenhams in Chelmsford on April 5, together with Robert Downey.

The defendant must attend appointments with a responsible officer, carry out 150 hours of unpaid, supervised work within the next 12 months, pay a £60 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

ROBERT EDWARD DOWNEY, 32, of Wordsworth Court, Chelmsford, was given a community order for stealing four bottles of fragrance valued at £146 from Debenhams in Chelmsford on April 5, together with Kurtiss Baxter.

The defendant was subject to a conditional discharge order imposed on September 12 last year for two years, for which he was fined a further £50.

He must attend appointments with a responsible officer, carry out 120 hours of unpaid, supervised work within the next 12 months. He must also pay a £60 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

TATYANA POLIVALOFF, 41, of Tattersalls Chase, Southminster, was fined £73 for stealing make-up and a silver ring to the value of £100 from World Duty Free at Stansted on April 4.

She must pay a victim surcharge of £20 and £85 costs to the CPS.

Theft – other
MARK JAMES CLIBBON, 26, of Brooklands Walk, Chelmsford, was given a community order for stealing office equipment to the value of £5,000 from Office Team at Harlow between August 1 and November 26 last year.

The defendant must carry out 200 hours of unpaid, supervised work within the next 12 months, pay a £60 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

Threatening behaviour

SHANE O'CONNOR, 18, of Brownings Avenue, Chelmsford, was fined £50 for using threatening, abusive words or disorderly behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress at Chelmsford on January 29.

He was fined £50 and must pay a £20 victim surcharge and £50 costs to the CPS.

ANDY ROY JAMES HUGHES, 24, of Thackeray Close, Braintree, was given a restraining order for using threatening abusive or insulting words or disorderly behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress towards Mr Daniel Rickard at Braintree on January 6 while subject to a conditional discharge order imposed on January 29 last year.

He was prohibited from contacting Daniel or going to Manor Street in Braintree.

He was fined £73 and must pay a £20 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

Drink-driving

KAREN JANE WHITE, 43, of Virgil Road, Witham, was given a 12 month driving ban for driving along Virgil Road on April 5 after she had been drinking.

The proportion of alcohol measured 54 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, more than one and a half times the limit.

She was fined £110 plus a £20 victim surcharge and £50 costs to the CPS.

PHOEBE MARY TAYLOR, 26, of Kelvedon Road, Tiptree, was banned from driving for 22 months for driving along the A120 at Braintree on April 5 after she had been drinking.

Her breath contained 83 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, more than double the limit. She was fined £110 plus a £20 surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

GARY MARK BLAGDEN, 52, of Jellicoe Way, Braintree, was given a 20 month driving ban for riding a motorcycle in Braintree on April 6 after he had been drinking.

His breath contained 70 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, double the limit.

He was fined £600 and must pay a £60 surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

Careless driving

JAMIE BOWEN, 26, of Fuller Street, Chelmsford, was given eight penalty points for riding a motorcycle along Chapel Road, Ridgewell, on September 5 without due care and attention.

The defendant lost control and collided with a parked refuse truck.

He was also using a provisional licence, did not display L plates, and had no insurance.

He was fined £600 and must pay a £60 victim surcharge and £90 costs.

TWO mums will rally around their MP to try overturning the "ridiculous" price hike in post-16 school transport in Essex.

Maria Herbert and Sandra Colledge, of Great Leighs, have been plunged into dire straits after learning it will cost them £900 each a year to get their teens to a sixth form college by bus.

Essex County Council has increased the annual sum by nearly a third from £623 for the 2014/15 academic year, and ruled that low-income families must fork out £450 when they previously paid nothing.

The costs are at least double the prices of surrounding counties, where families can get away with paying as little as £206 for the service – or even free of charge.

Miss Colledge, 41, of Beadle Way, whose 16-year-old daughter will start sixth form at Chelmer Valley High School in September, says she may have to borrow the money from her mother to foot the bill.

"It's a big shock," said the mother-of-three. "I thought I would get more help to be honest and I really feel let down. I'll have to borrow it off my mum but then I'll have to pay for the year after as well and I don't want to just keep on borrowing.

"I just don't know what to do now – I thought you could get student rates."

Similarly 46-year-old Mrs Herbert, also a mother-of-three of Beadle Way, will have to foot the bill when her 15-year-old daughter finishes her GCSEs next year.

Their children, while 16-years-old or younger, catch a dedicated and free-of-charge bus from nearby Main Road each morning to their catchment school Chelmer Valley.

The two claim parents have not been pro-actively informed by the council of the price rise.

"It is cheaper for us to drive our youngsters there and back which means more cars on the road and more traffic congestion," said Mrs Herbert.

"It's also a very big setback and there is no way either I or my friend can afford it. She's been offered to pay in instalments but that will cost £1,560 for the year. Either way she has three months to find some money."

The mums have also accused central government of hypocrisy, for while school transport fees may be deterring parents, as of 2013 all teens must stay in full-time education or work-based training until 18 if born after August 31, 1997.

"We would like to meet our MP and do something as all the other counties around us can offer at least half the price," said Mrs Herbert. "You feel like saying to the Government – you are keeping our kids on at school until they're 18 but are not providing funding. Why?"

The Conservative-run county council voted in a 2014/15 budget back in February for the price hike.

The tweak sparked debate in County Hall, with Lib Dem group leader Mike Mackrory proposing an extra £750,000 be found to fund the service.

The current cost means for a bus pass the council now subsidises just £95 a year per student, out of the annual cost of £995 First Buses charges.

At the same meeting county council leader David Finch said the authority had "started the process" of consulting the public on subsidised bus services and had changed the rules on free Home to School Transport to bring "us into line with most other local authorities".

Parent Alison Bone has two children in further education and must now pay the £900 for her daughter to travel to Braintree

"First Essex charges £995 for a year pass, so this is only a small saving, and means the level of subsidy has dropped hugely. Our income exceeds the cut-off for entitlement to a free pass, but this is still a ridiculously large increase," she said. "How can the council justify it?"

Speaking to the Chronicle MP for Great Leighs Sir Alan Haselhurst said the service may be more expensive in Essex as it is a bigger and more populated county than most of its neighbours. "I can understand why it's thought of as a lot of money across not just my constituency but across this very large county," said Sir Alan. "It is difficult in a rural area, it really is."

A NURSE stands accused of abandoning a patient in their urine-soaked sheets, leaving a morphine syringe lying around and a catalogue of other failures.

Former Broomfield Hospital staff nurse Ide Warren is due before the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in a fortnight on 11 charges.

The allegations date between March 2011 and February 2012 while she was employed on a vascular and urology surgical ward.

The council say her failures "fail to demonstrate the standards of knowledge, skills and judgement required to practise without supervision".

That includes leaving a syringe of oramorph on a patient's bed, not witnessing it being given, then signing to say it had when it had not.

Another allegation says Warren used the same gloves she had worn to clean a patient that had soiled herself to fit a catheter on another patient.

She is also said to have left a patient in their urine-soaked bed for 20 minutes, and not cleaned beds when patients had been discharged.

Warren was given an 18-month suspension in September 2012 while the NMC investigated the claims. Her hearing in Belfast starts on Thursday, June 26.

A VITAL parcel of land that will allow the city's notorious Army & Navy flyover to be replaced is finally available after plans for an Aldi supermarket were given the go ahead.

More than four years after acquiring the former Jewson's site off Parkway the supermarket chain has permission to build a budget food store off Chelmsford's infamous roundabout.

As part of the deal it must give up enough land needed to allow for crucial lane widening, for the long-awaited two-way flyover – schemes which could change the structural landscape of the city.

Cabinet member for planning and economic development Cllr Neil Gulliver said: "For the first time ever there is sufficient land within public ownership to put money forward for a two-way flyover and now in the future we can look to get government funding for the scheme."

The planning approval will also allow the slip lane from Parkway to Chelmer Road to be extended to ease congestion, a project that was also dependent upon the Aldi agreement.

At the end of 2013 central government provided a cash injection of £1.45 million to fund the lane widening project, after a report showed that up to 4,800 vehicles pass through the junction each hour in busy periods.

Mr Gulliver added: "There will be improvements seen by residents next year and the following year, and then after that we've got to sit down with the Highways Department and Rodney Bass and look to the future."

An overhaul at the congested roundabout has long been earmarked as an essential improvement for Chelmsford, in particular to support 2,000 new homes to be built in the city centre, 100,000sq ft of retail space including John Lewis, Waitrose, and the county cricket ground, and the expectation of 20,000 new jobs by 2021.

However, some people voiced concerns over the application for the second Aldi store in Chelmsford, in particular in Moulsham Mill, where there are a number of small, independent traders.

Via a number of public comments business owners at the Mill expressed fears at the impact of the store on traffic levels, and the viability of the community hub.

Despite these concerns the application was deemed so straightforward and compliant as to avoid discussion at a city council meeting altogether, with the decision to grant permission taken by a Planning Inspector instead.

An Aldi spokesperson said: "We have worked very closely with the City Council over a number of years regarding our proposals, which have now been thoroughly assessed and approved by officers at both Chelmsford City and Essex County Councils.

"The application, which fully complies with relevant planning policies, will help to secure considerable benefits for Chelmsford, including major highway improvement works at the Army & Navy.

"Before submitting the application, Aldi sent leaflets to more than 500 people and was delighted that more than 90 per cent of respondents were in support of the scheme. We look forward to opening the new store by the middle of next year."