Essex police arrived at the scene of a legal rabbit hunt after spotting a car acting suspiciously from the skies.

The NPAS police helicopter spotted a car lights go off on a vehicle last night (September 13) in an off road location as they travelled overhead at roughly 8.40pm.

NPAS later notified Essex Police who arrived at the field to find that the rabbit hunt was taking place legally on the property with the owners consent.

The tweet read: "13/9 2040 #Chelmsford upon return to base we spotted a vehicle acting suspiciously off road and alerted @EssexPoliceUK who are now dealing."

MALDON'S MP has backed a development that would include a replacement for ailing St Peter's Hospital.

John Whittingdale showed support for the proposals during a Commons debate on September 3.

Kensington & Edinburgh Estates held a consultation in May on plans to build a new "health facility" with 320 homes, shops, a care home and offices at Maldon Hall Farm, off Spital Road.

Addressing the house, Mr Whittingdale said: "Mid Essex has one of the most severe financial problems of any area in the country. We have to look at more imaginative solutions. It is unlikely that the local health service will be able to afford a new hospital.

"The scheme offers an even greater potential benefit as not only will a new hospital probably be cheaper to run than the very old existing hospital, but it will free up the site, which will be available to the NHS for potential sale for development. It is a win-win situation: Maldon will get a brand-new hospital and the houses that there is no doubt we need, and the NHS will have additional resources and a hospital that is more up to date and cheaper to run."

The developers stated that they will submit an application "in the not too distant future" for the plan which, they say, could create 200 jobs.

Simon Hoare, managing director of Community Connect, acting on behalf of Kensington & Edinburgh Estate, said: "This is a great opportunity for the land to stay in the public sector and to gain a new purpose-built health centre that should last for years."

At an overview and scrutiny meeting last month, a number of district councillors expressed support – but health bosses did not seem to be in agreement about how to move forward.

A stumbling block was the reluctance of Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (MECCG) to guarantee contracts to provide care from a new building as they must save £40 million in the next five years.

Mr Whittingdale, who marched on Whitehall in defence of St Peter's when its closure was suggested in the early 1990s, said: "The Maldon district, like many, has a severe housing need. The development of new housing will bring with it a new hospital for the NHS, built by the developers at zero capital cost."

But former town councillor and NHS worker Tom Kelly is wary of private investment. "Will the building remain in the developer's hands?" he asked. "Similar builds have fallen into problems and bankrupted local NHS trusts. The land and building must belong to the public."

Replacing St Peter's Hospital has been on the agenda for more than ten years. A special committee formed in April last year and tasked with collaborating with the MECCG to push forward the plans for a new hospital has since stalled.

The Blackwater Patient Participation Group is hosting an open evening on October 17 at the Plume School in Fambridge Road from 7 to 9pm. It will take the form of a Question Time scenario with MP John Whittingdale, Louise Irvine from the National Health Action Party, Mid Essex Hospitals Trust chief executive Paul Forden, and representatives from NHS England and the Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group.

Chelmsford Prison will see more than half of its inmates re-offend, according to recent statistics released by the Ministry of Justice.

Official MOJ numbers put re-offending rates at 62.4 per cent for offenders serving less than 12 months in Chelmsford prison, and at 39.1 per cent for prisoners serving more than 12 months, with an average of 4.92 and 3.55 offences per re-offender serving under and over 12 months, respectively.

The damning statistics follow a pattern of high re-offending rates nationwide, and have led to an overhaul of the rehabilitation service, which is in the process of being implemented.

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Chris Grayling, who visited HM Prison Chelmsford and Essex Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) last week, said: "What we have done is effectively divided probation into two different groups.

"We have created a single national organisation, the national probation service; a smaller, specialist team that will focus on public protection, risk management, and dealing with the most problematic dangerous high-risk offenders.

"Besides that, we have created 21 local community rehabilitation companies, and we saw the one in Essex, to work with low and medium-risk offenders, and its focus will be more on helping those people organise their lives, providing more of a mentoring service."

His visit to Essex coincided with the roll-out of the rehabilitation reforms, which mean all prisoners, even those sentenced to less than 12 months, receive a year of support from probation services on leaving prison.

Key changes to the service also include the aforementioned division of responsibility within probation, and the share sale of CRCs to private companies, which will be paid based on results.

As one of the top performing probation services in the country, the Essex team was of great interest to Mr Grayling, who said that he had met with staff from the probation team at the offices in Braintree Road, Witham.

He explained: "I met a team of probation officers today who are enthusiastic about the reforms, and there are people who are saying they see opportunities with this new system.

"There are also people who are saying I am pretty uncomfortable with the reforms but I am getting on with the job.

"There are also people who are still very resistant to it – the unions had a rally at Westminster yesterday to protest about it, but this is the right thing to bring down re-offending."

However, news of the reforms has not been popular with everyone in the county, with Nick Adams, chairman of HMP Chelmsford's Independent Monitoring Board, explaining that the new way of running the probation service was of particular concern.

"Certainly there is trepidation as far as the prison is concerned, as past experience of contracting out services hasn't been positive," he said.

"All things, for example healthcare, are contracted out to Care UK – education is contracted out, library services are contracted out, but when things go wrong, the prison is unfairly slammed."

Each CRC is currently up for share sale. An array of organisations have met the end-of-June deadline for offers and the Government will be scrutinising them and deciding by the end of this year which bidder will take on each one.

It is thought that around four organisations are in the bidding for Essex, including a mutual, formed by some Essex Probation employees, which has put forward its own bid.

Mary Archer, the chief executive of the CRC, and chairwoman of the CRC Board, said: "It's been a huge transition for everyone and obviously quite an emotional one, but most people have moved into Essex CRC by choice.

"We are really pleased to be working with offenders who have served less than 12 months. Some of the most prolific offenders we work with anyway, but this means we can grab hold of people who go in and out of prison, and look at what's needed in Essex."

Despite many people within the system, including former offenders, suggesting that shorter sentences may not be as effective as working with the probation service, Mr Grayling confirmed that he has no plans to scrap sentences of less than 12 months.

"I am clear on this – there are some people saying we should give everyone a community sentence. Some of the people who end up in prison have already done a community sentence, and so if they were the panacea we wouldn't have all these people turning up in prison," he said.

"If we were to say 'you can't get a short sentence', you either say to people they are going to jail for longer or we say 'we know you have committed crime after crime and you keep on coming back but we're still not going to do anything more than give you another community sentence'.

"And there's no deterrent there at all so, no, I believe prison is necessary, and I want to see more of the right people going to prison but then the objective is to have fewer of them coming back."

ONE of Chelmsford's largest developments could provide more than 600 homes when it is finished, if new plans are given the go ahead.

A revised blueprint for the second phase of the City Park West development on the old Anglia Ruskin site was submitted to Chelmsford City Council last week.

Authority leader Councillor Roy Whitehead said: "Phase two is different from the earlier plans, which included a supermarket, but there are a lot of extra homes being put in.

"We still need to discuss the fact that there is a smaller percentage of affordable housing there than was originally suggested, but it will produce more affordable houses in numbers.

"It's very encouraging to see it going ahead, and the first phase of development has gone very well."

Phase one of the development is well under way, and is expected to be completed in early 2015.

Work on phase two is due to start around March 2015 if the development gets the go-ahead from the council.

It will take around 18 months to complete.

The initial plans for phase two initially included 288 houses, as well as a supermarket, but plans changed after both John Lewis and Waitrose got the green light from the council.

Instead, it will include 386 residential units, as well as more than 57,000 square foot of commercial floor space, which is expected to include cafes, restaurants, and possibly a gym.

If the latest plans are accepted, the development as a whole will include a total of 605 homes.

The development is set to include a range of living options including social and private rent, shared ownership and extra care, and also includes the refurbishment of historic buildings, including the Grade II listed Anne Knight building and the Frederick Chancellor and Law Buildings off Victoria Road South.

Bidwells property consultants, which worked on phase one of the project, has been enlisted by Genesis Housing Association for phase two, to ensure design consistency.

The new proposals will aim to create several distinct areas built around open spaces, while linking the new pedestrian and cycle routes from phase one.

Bidwells project manager Ray Houghton said: "The whole site was submitted for planning a few years ago, and was a hybrid application, so phase one was a full planning application and phase two was an outline.

"We had outline permission for a food retail store in 2012, but since then we have seen Waitrose and John Lewis, so we decided to re-think things and make the development viable.

"We knew that the council desperately needed one and two-bedroom apartments, so that is what we have concentrated on."

Although the completion date of phase 1 has been announced as early 2015, some apartments will be ready before then. Mr Houghton said: "We hope to have the first resident in by New Year's Day."

The submission of the application for phase 2 follows an extensive process of public engagement and meetings with officers of Essex County and Chelmsford City councils.

A man will appear at Colchester Magistrates' Court at the end of the month in connection with an alleged assault outside The Lounge bar in Braintree.

The 22-year-old, from The Street in Takeley, has been charged with GBH with intent following the incident on September 5. Police have chosen not to release his name at this stage.

The victim remains in hospital.

The suspect will appear before Colchester Magistrates' Court on September 30.

Mobile phone retailer Phones 4U, which has stores in Chelmsford, Braintree, and Brentwood, has gone into administration this morning (September 15).

The chain, which is owned by private equity firm BC Partners, has 5,596 employees in the UK and has said its 550 stores would all be closed today.

Phones 4U has blamed its current situation on mobile network EE's decision not to renew its contract.

Vodafone had previously decided not to renew their contract with Phones 4U earlier in September.

Phones 4U has said established mobile contracts taken out at their stores will not be affected.

Customer service lines:

Phones 4u Customer Service 0844 871225

Technical Support: 0844 8712233 

Handset Repairs 0844 8712269

Phones 4u Care (Insurance) 0844 8710535

LIFE Mobile Customer Service 0844 3221133 

WITHAM Town cruised into the FA Cup second round qualifying with a comfortable 4-0 win at Bowers and Pitsea.

The hosts were also reduced to nine-men as Garry Kimble's men added to their decent start to the season thanks to James Robinson hat-trick.

Witham were on top throughout but did not score until the 25th minute when James Robinson's shot under found its way under Sean Hinton.

Soon after, Town scored a second when James Stevens scored from the penalty spot after Frank Everett pulled down Robinson in the box, which resulted in him being sent off.

Robinson bagged his second of the game when he brilliantly headed in after a good run and cross by Ryan Charles.

The striker then completed his hat-trick when he again shot under Hinton with another well taken goal.

Bowers and Pitsea had a second player, Dan Brown, sent off with the misery compounded when goalkeeper Hinton was taken off injured and replaced by old Witham favourite Jason Baker.

AN inquest into the murder of a mother-of-two at the hands of her convicted killer ex-boyfriend is set to begin at Chelmsford Coroner's Court today (September 15).

The hearing is expected to last up to six weeks.

Maria Stubbings, 50 was strangled to death by Marc Chivers in her Pitfield home in December 2008.

He had already served a life sentence in Germany for throttling his prostitute girlfriend, for whom he acted as a pimp, and a four-month jail term for assaulting Maria.

Then just months after his release in December 2008, Chivers, then 43, strangled the mother-of-two with a pink dog lead and buried her body under a pile of coats in a downstairs toilet.

The 51-year-old's daughter, Celia Peachey, son Bengi Stubbing and brother Manuel Fernandez, have long campaigned for a public inquiry into domestic violence.

ESSEX all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate has ruled himself out of the Eagles' final two County Championship games, instead choosing to join up with Kolkata Knight Riders in the Champions League.

The campaign begins on September 17 to be hosted in India, which means Essex's One-Day captain with not play against Leicestershire and Worcestershire, as the Eagles push for promotion.

Ten Doeschate was ruled out of the recent victory against Kent because of a shoulder injury sustained in August against Glamorgan.

Essex Head Coach Paul Grayson told the club's website: "Ryan came and saw us to explain that he would like to go to India and compete in the Champions League for Kolkata. It is a great opportunity for him to play in one of the biggest tournaments around the world and after careful deliberation we granted him his request.

"The performance against Kent this week showed that there is a wealth of experience and talent in the squad. I'm confident that there are players that can come in and fill the position left by Ryan and happy that we can get positive results from our final two matches of the season."

THE Iron made it four 2-0 wins out of their last five games on Saturday as they overcame a strong full-time Harriers side who were three times denied a goal by the woodwork and twice saw home keeper Nick Hamann pull off great saves to keep his side in the lead.

The Iron also had to survive a tricky final 15 minutes with only 10 men when skipper Kenny Davis was sent off for a second yellow card which left manager Alan Devonshire fuming.

"Kenny committed two fairly innocuous fouls in the game and was given two yellow cards," he declared. "Two of their players - Kyle Storer and Marvin Johnson - had already been booked once and they then both commit appalling, vicious tackles on two of our players Ryan Peters and Chez Issac and they get away with it and are not even booked - both those tackles deserved straight red cards.

"All I am asking is referees to be consistent with their decision making and unfortunately we didn't see it again in this game," he continued. "It's not sour grapes because we won and deservedly so but there must be more consistency by the officials."

Davis will now miss Tuesday's tough away game at Aldershot leaving Devonshire with a headache over team selection with five players already out through injury from his wafer-thin squad.

"We'll have a roll call on Monday and see who is fit and I may have to bring in some of the Academy lads in to make up the squad," he added. "I think we fully deserved to win this game though, we dominated it for most of the time and yes had a bit of luck when they struck the woodwork but we could have scored more than two."

He also praised his players adding: "They are a good side which is why they are high up in the league but my boys showed so much grit and determination, rolled their sleeves up and got on with it which is why we won. Our passing and high pace of the game throughout also paid off."

The Iron early pressure paid off when on 14 minutes James Mulley clipped the ball with the outside of his boot from 25 yards out on the right wing sending it right into the top far corner of the net giving visiting keeper Danny Lewis no chance.

It was a spectacular goal and naturally gave the Iron more confidence as they pushed forward and they should have doubled their score on 20 minutes when a fine cross from the left by Sam Habergham fell straight to Jordan Cox but he could only head high over the bar from six yards out.

The visitors though ended the half strongly and three minutes from the interval split the Iron defence only to see the shot come back off an upright and Jack Bryne was quickest to drive the rebound goal ward only for Hamann to save brilliantly with his legs.

Three minutes after the restart the Iron scored that crucial second goal and it all came from Chez Issac simply chasing down Bryne with the ball, robbing him and heading for goal only for a defender Jared Hodgkiss to put it behind for a corner.

And from that corner - taken by Dan Sparkes - it was Davis coming in at the far post who stooped low to head the ball home for the second goal and his fifth of the campaign.

Naturally with a two goal cushion it gave the Iron some relief as they continued to dominate the game although their forward momentum was hindered on the hour when Cox was forced off, leaving Michael Bakara to come on and link up with again the promising young Simeon Akinola.

After Davis was sent off it gave the visitors fresh impetus and they pushed forward, also taking advantage of some bizarre free-kicks given to them by referee Justin Amey.

Again Hamann pulled off another fine save and when he was beaten full-back Ryan Peters was forced to make a goal-line clearance.

The Iron were now forced on the back foot as Devonshire sacrificed forwards Danny Sparkes and Akinola to bring on more defensive reinforcements.

The visitors did manage to hit the Iron woodwork twice in literally the dying moments of the game but the danger was soon cleared and the home side held on deservedly for all three points with late on Bakara missing an easy chance when though on goal.

Braintree Town: Hamann; Peters, Massey, Brundle, Habergham; Mulley, Isaac, Davis, Sparkes (Smith 77); Akinola (Case 89), Cox (Bakare 59). Unused subs: Walker, Pentney.

Attendance: 751.

A former Essex County Council social worker reportedly boasted on Facebook about a case involving the removal of three children from their parents.

Siobhan Condon, 41, attended a hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on 9 May 2013, posting on the social networking site afterwards, stating: "Just experienced His Honour Judge give parents a massive rollicking.

"It was an amazing and extraordinary moment in my career and he complimented my Court evidence - how proud am I - at Chelmsford Crown Court."

The post also reportedly featured a map pinpointing her location close to the court, with the accompanying comment: "Thanks all me and XX are reflecting on how the solicitor commented on fine nails and shoes appear to be a requirement of our team lol. Anyway of (sic) now to do the mammoth grim task fingers crossed xxx"

A Health and Care Professions Council conduct and competence committee heard on September 1 that the "grim" task Ms Condon referred to was taking three children out of the care of their parents, and the posts were enough to identify the family.

Following this, Ms Condon concluded posts in relation to the court case, saying: "So the day is complete. Its (sic) powerful to know that … children's lives have just massively changed for the better and now they are safe and protected from harm and have every hope for the future…"

However, despite the council receiving a complaint from the mother of the children about Ms Condon's conduct on the social networking site, the committee did not remove Ms Condon from her role, although her contract with Essex County Council has come to an end.

Instead, the social worker received a 12-month Conditions of Practice order, which involves supervision from a line manager.

The committee took this view in relation to the otherwise unblemished professional record of Ms Condon.

An Essex County Council spokesman said: "Siobhan Condon was on a contract that was agreed through an agency. This contract was ended with immediate effect."

Rochford Hundred 17 Chelmsford 29 - London Two North East

CHELMSFORD Rugby Club won their opening league encounter at Rochford last weekend with an ultimately convincing victory, scoring 4 excellent tries and in the process securing a bonus point victory.

With ten of the side coming up through the colts system and five other players making their first team debuts, there is a younger look to the squad this season.

The side were dealt a blow beforehand when influential young hooker, Seth Robinson, was ruled out, following a back spasm injury sustained the previous week, but they did welcome back playmaker Simon Hoult at fly half who was absent from the Upminster game.

Debutant winger, Will Ferrier and full back Jamie Ash both scored two tries each and could have scored more had the final pass gone to hand. Even so, Director of Rugby Eddie Gooby can be pleased with the overall performance, but acknowledged that the score could have been more against a Rochford side who have suffered this pre-season with the loss of several key players to both London One outfit Thurrock and National league side Southend.

Chelmsford were on the attack in the early stages and had several chances to score. Unfortunately for them they lost prop Phil Dechamp early on with a back injury and he was replaced by Ben Franklin. The visitors opened the scoring after 15 minutes when a poor clearance kick from the home side was fielded by second row, Nick Sany and then the ball was spun down the back line and right wing Ferrier beat three men to score a great try underneath the posts, which was duly converted by Hoult to make it 7 – 0. Five minutes later from a scrum, the ball went down the back line and full-back Ash burst through the home side's defence and beat several men to touch down underneath the posts, and with Hoult converting again this took Chelmsford into a 14 – 0 lead.

At this point Chelmsford should have put the hammer down and gone on to score more points, but for some reason they allowed Rochford back into the game and a series of penalties, five on the trot, saw the home side score twice and come back into the game. Following a penalty kick to the corner, the ball was won from the line out and after several phases they managed to score an unconverted try in the corner. Five minutes later the home side were awarded a penalty, which went just wide, but then a further unconverted try was scored from a driving maul. This made the scoreline 14 – 10 to Chelmsford. On the stroke of half time following a line out the pace of the Chelmsford backs was once again to the fore and wing Ferrier scored a great try in the corner to extend Chelmsford's lead to 19 – 10 at half time.

Chelmsford continued to play some enterprising rugby and 10 minutes into the half, full back Ash made a great run down the left hand side touchline, only to be tackled a few metres from the line. A few minutes later a great kick ahead by Chelmsford resulted in the home side carrying the ball over the dead ball line.

The pressure was now being put on by Chelmsford, but despite a series of scrums near the Rochford line, they were unable to control the ball at the back of the scrum and some of the impetus was lost.

However, following another scrum, fly half Hoult put Ash away down the left hand side of the field and his pace saw him through to score another great try in the corner, which was superbly converted by Hoult to extend the lead to 26 – 10. Sadly for the visitors the home side scored once again following play through the phases and a converted try reduced the lead to 26 – 17. A final penalty kick from Hoult saw Chelmsford home to a well-deserved.

This coming Saturday sees Chelmsford at home to South Woodham Ferrers, with the kick off at 3pm at Coronation Park.

BOTH Chelmsford City and Witham Town have been handed home ties in the FA Cup second qualifying round.

The Clarets will host Ryman One South side Wothing, who beat Dulwich Hamlet 3-0 in the last round of the competition.

However, Witham will play either fellow Ryman Premier outfits Bognor Regis Town or Lewes. The two teams played out a 0-0 draw on Saturday, with the replay tomorrow night (Tuesday).

The matches will take place on September 27.

Power cables were left overhanging a key route through Cressing after a lorry collision this morning.

The fire service was called to Long Green, in Cressing, near Braintree, at about 10am today (September 15) after the HGV's collision.

No one was injured but the road was closed.

A UK Power Networks spokesman said five homes are without power.

They said: "Staff are working as quickly and as safely as possible to restore electricity supplies to five customers in Long Green, Cressing, who have been without power since 10.15am today when a tanker was in collision with an electricity pole."

A motorist escaped serious injury after a collision in Chelmsford ended up with this car on its roof.

The incident, on Corporation Road, saw a woman pulled from an upturned Vauxhall Astra after it is believed to smashed into a vehicle that was parked at the side of the road.

Paramedics were called to the scene shortly before 1.20pm to reports that the occupant suffered a leg injury.

Essex Police PC John Holmes, who attended the accident, said: "It appears that a lady driving from Broomfield Road for an unknown reason collided with a parked car.

"Witnesses say there was not an excessive use of speed. It is quite unusual for a car to overturn in these circumstances and it appears the cars had a wheel to wheel collision."

It is understood that the woman has been taken to Broomfield Hospital as a precaution.

HEYBRIDGE Swifts have confirmed that captain Andrew Joslin has departed from the Scraley Road club. 

Joslin who was part of the side last season that reached the Ryman One North play-off semi -final made 17 appearances for Swifts having been brought in by former Manager Jody Brown from Halstead Town.

Midfielder Joslin paid tribute to the Club, speaking to the official website, he said: ''I would like to thank everyone involved at the Club for their efforts in making my short time at Heybridge such an enjoyable one''.

Joslin joined last Christmas and says the move to Heybridge ''was an easy decision to make''. Andy Joslin reflected on the last four months of last season by saying that ''the play off run is something I'll hold in high regard''.

Joslin also paid tribute to manager Keith Wilson, saying: ''I know Willo is working tirelessly towards improving the Club, even though only for a short time, being Captain of Swifts is always something I will remember''

Wilson said: ''There were no hard feelings and I wish him all the best, I needed him to be 110% behind me because I made him Captain but that wasn't the case sadly'.'

DUCHESS of York Sarah Ferguson has arrived in Chelmsford today (September 15) to lend support to the family of Maria Stubbings on the first day of an inquest into her death.

The former wife of Prince Andrew has arrived at Chelmsford Coroner's Court, on Victoria Road south, on the first day of a six-week hearing into Maria's murder, at the hands of her ex-boyfriend Marc Chivers. 

The 54-year-old attended this afternoon dressed in a light purple velvet suit to observe the day's proceedings.

It is understood Ms. Ferguson is a family friend, and is attending to lend support to Maria's daughter Celia Peachey, son Benji Stubbings, and brother Manuel Fernandez - who have long-campaigned for the inquest to take place. 

Essex Police firearms officers rushed to the Travelodge hotel in Chelmsford yesterday over concerns for the safety of one of its guests.

A concerned member of staff at the premises in Parkway, at the Army & Navy roundabout, contacted the force shortly before 8pm.

Police were still seen there two-and-a-half hours later.

An Essex Police spokesman added: "Officers located the man who was fine."

JESSE Ryder inspired Essex as they dominated the first day of their County Championship clash with Leicestershire at Grace Road.

With the Eagles still pushing for promotion from Division Two, Ryder finished on figures of 5-50 as the hosts were bowled out for 138.

Essex then finished the day on 153-3 to put them firmly in control going into Day Two.

James Foster won the toss and elected to bowl first, with Ryder and David Masters quickly picking up the wickets of Angus Robson (2) and Ed Eckersley (0).

Opener Greg Smith went to Masters for 26 before Josh Cobb (2), Niall O'Brien (4), Robert Taylor (5) and Jigar Naik (4) all fell to Ryder in quick succession, with Leicestershire slumping to 79-7.

Foster only used three bowlers during the innings, with Graham Napier joining the attack and having Freckingham caught behind for just five runs as the hosts reached lunch 90-8.

Dan Redfern was the only bright light for Leicestershire as he reached 50, hitting six 4s and one 6. Tail-enders Charlie Shreck (16) and Atif Sheikh (12) stuck around, but when they were both bowled by Napier, Redfern was stranded not out as his side's innings was finished in the 37^th over.

Masters finished on figures of 2-43, with Napier's 3-43 capping off a good bowling day for Essex.

Tom Westley and Nick Browne got Essex off to a steady start in reply, before Westley was trapped LBW by Taylor for 24.

Jaik Mickleburgh (4) came and went four balls later as he was also trapped by Taylor in front of the stumps.

Ravi Bopara joined Browne at the crease and the pair put on 44 runs before Browne was caught behind by Shreck for 44 in 115 balls.

But with eight overs left to play in the day, the rain came to put a stop to the evening session with Essex looking good on 153-3. Bopara (33*) and Foster (36*) will carry on tomorrow morning, with Essex knowing that nothing but a win will be good enough if they are to get promotion.