OVERWEIGHT, lonely and depressed, 21-year-old Lauren could once barely look at herself in the mirror, but having shed the pounds and turned her life around, she is now set to represent Essex in a major beauty pageant.

The story of the ugly ducking transforming into a beautiful swan is one that resonates with Ingatestone girl Lauren Chapelhow.

When she moved from regular school into the sixth form at Anglo-European School, her world changed.

Her friends had either left or were studying other subjects, she became lonely, piled on the pounds through comfort eating, and, worse still, her epilepsy got out of control.

She said: "I started having two or three seizures a week and I started refusing to go into school.

"I just got to the point where I felt so bad about myself, I could not be bothered any more, I would wear stretch jeans, hoodies and no make-up, and there was one time that I got so upset that I threw a glass at my bedroom door and there is still a dent there today.

"And I took it all out on my parents because they were really trying to get me out of the rut."

Things came to a head for Lauren on December 1, 2008, when she had six epileptic fits in one terrible day while at school and she didn't go back again.

Within a year she had enrolled at Chelmsford College on a child care and education course, she made new friends and started to feel a bit happier, the fits stopped, but still she was unhappily overweight.

But once she had begun working as a teaching assistant at Billericay School, things began to change.

"I love to cook and I just started cooking healthy meals and exercising more, I joined a Zumba class, but that's all I did.

"Suddenly people started complimenting me and it felt absolutely great."

She has dropped from a size 14 to a 10.

And while browsing the internet one day, she spotted a link to the Miss Galaxy UK beauty pageant and having already posed for some pictures of her slim new look she was unable to resist.

"I like to show myself off now and I love getting dressed up, so I thought why not?"

To her surprise pageant officials contacted Lauren, who lives with her with her mum and twin sisters in Willow Green, and told her she'd be parading for her county at the national finals next March.

But in order to cover costs, Lauren, who headed off to Canterbury and Christ Church University to study education, must find a sponsor.

To discuss the advertising opportunities available from sponsoring Lauren, e-mail her on ld.chapelhow@hotmail.com

TWENTY volunteers scoured an abandoned hospital for a missing mother and her daughter.

Crews from Essex Search & Rescue and teams from Search Dogs Essex combed the four-and-a-half acre St John's site for six hours, looking for the family.

Fortunately this was just a training exercise and the pair, two dummies, one with a football for a head, were found safe and well at the disused hospital on Wood Street, Chelmsford, on Sunday.

"We teach our guys to be thorough. They had to sweep the entire site," said chairman of Essex Search & Rescue Matt Cloke, a 40-year-old chartered surveyor of Chelmsford, who has been a volunteer with the organisation for eight years.

Essex Search & Rescue is celebrating its tenth birthday and is on the lookout for volunteers to help them find some of the county's most vulnerable people.

They are called out once every ten days to scour the countryside and towns for missing residents – usually Alzheimer's and dementia sufferers, the elderly, or the suicidal.

The search can last anything from a minute to five days.

They have 40 rescuers on their books, but due to members' work commitments, they are always on the look-out for new people.

"We're all volunteers and the group survives entirely on charitable donations," said Matt.

At the moment they are raising money to buy a new van to carry their equipment.

The volunteers come from all backgrounds, with ages from 18 to 70.

Ian Whitemoss, 65, of Great Waltham, has been a rescuer for three years.

"It is very rewarding at times, but sometimes you don't find what you're looking for. That's the nature of the beast, but it's amazing when you do find the person who's gone missing, alive and well."

And Matt says you don't have to be a paramedic or ex-serviceman to join.

"We give people all the training that's necessary and we don't have any big prerequisites," he said.

"It's good to be fit, but we're not looking for Olympic athletes – just people with a bit of time and who want to put something back into the community.

"We need people because we are getting busier and busier.

"Essex Police appreciate what we do and can rely on us to do a good job."

Ian Wright, 48, of Colchester, who works in trading standards, joined the team this weekend for the first time.

He said: "I think it's a worthwhile cause and if we can help find people who are vulnerable and have gone missing, then we can do a lot of good."

Jim Turner, 39, a health and safety manager of Latchingdon, has been a volunteer for two years.

"I wanted to get out in the countryside and give something back. "These two years have been fantastic and it can be really rewarding when you find someone alive and well."

That is not always the case, but Matt said that they offer their volunteers counselling if they find a dead person.

"It can be quite harrowing, but our teams are trained in body recovery and we call in professional counsellors if it's needed."

Essex Search & Rescue has a partnership with Search Dogs Essex – a team of volunteers who have trained their dogs to sniff out missing people.

"It's a game for the dogs," said 39-year-old Mark Osborn, of Mayland, who searches with his two springer spaniels Charlie and Dave.

"They don't care about the people, they just want to find them as quickly as possible so they get a treat."

Mark Gilpin, planning director of Inland Homes, which owns the site, said: "We are more than happy to support Essex Search & Rescue by letting them use the former hospital as a test site.

"The work they do is vital and often goes under the radar, so we hope this exercise will encourage people to get involved with the charity, while also making sure the group is ready to go the next time they are needed."

A GROUP of Irish travellers parked their caravans on a picturesque village green for five days before being moved on by the authorities.

Eight caravans belonging to travellers from Suffolk arrived on Springfield Green, Chelmsford, in the early hours of Wednesday morning before leaving at lunchtime on Sunday.

Chelmsford City Council contacted the police and told the families that they would be served with an injunction if they failed to leave the site.

Ryan De'ath, speaking on behalf of the authority, told the Chronicle: "As landowner we did our inspections and raised it with the police.

"They are not supposed to be here so the police asked them when they were moving on.

"If they had stayed longer we would have issued them with an injunction.

"But of course the legal route is expensive and would have cost the taxpayers a fair bit of money."

After the travellers left at 12.30pm on Sunday the council paid a visit to the green to check if any rubbish or mess had been left behind.

"It was reasonably clean and clear," Mr De'ath added.

Chelmsford City Councillor Christine Garrett, who represents The Lawns ward, said she had received a number of calls and e-mails from worried residents, but said she was pleased with the speed of the council's response.

"I think between the police and the council we managed to reassure people that everything that could be done was being done," she said.

"We served them paperwork on Thursday morning. We had something like this a long time ago and we have not had any issues like this recently.

"I think it was handled really well and I hope people are reassured by our efforts."

EVER felt like the youth of Billericay are being neglected?

Now is your chance to rectify that by getting involved with the Billericay Youth Town Council (BYTC).

The youth council election is coming up next month and youngsters are being encouraged to get involved in local politics.

Six youth councillors have vacated their positions to go to university, meaning the BYTC currently only has eight councillors.

There will be 20 seats up for grabs in the election.

For incumbent chairman Tayler Cronly-Dillon, the youth council offers a great opportunity to get involved with the local community.

"I just love helping out in Billericay, doing all the events," said the 17-year-old Mayflower High School student.

"The great part is you get to interact with lots of people on so many different levels."

While serving with the BYTC, Miss Cronly-Dillon has helped out on numerous fundraising activities with her peers and also helped to organise the Billericay Urban Games, which were held in Lake Meadows in July.

Next year, the youth council has plans to stage a music festival in Lake Meadows for the town's youngsters.

October's election will see Billericay's three senior schools – Mayflower High School, The Billericay School and St John's – stage votes.

Pupils will vote for their nominated colleagues with a specified number from each school being elected on to the youth council.

James Turner, son of borough councillor Phil Turner, joined the BYTC two years ago.

"I joined because I wanted to make Billericay better," he said.

"It's such a brilliant opportunity for you to learn new skills and you work with people of different ages on the youth council, whereas at school you're with people of the same age."

Youth councillors can be aged between 11 and 17 years and meetings take place on the second Tuesday of every month.

Their senior colleagues on the full town council attend their meetings to offer guidance.

Councillor Daphne Spencer said: "We need to recruit more people and we're doing our utmost to get the word about.

"The youth councillors can benefit from quite a few things if they are interested in the town they live in.

"They have organised a number of events over the last few years. It's down to whether the youngsters want to get involved in town life.

The Billericay Youth Town Council election takes place on October 18.

For more information call the town clerk on 01277 625732.

SINGING star and Queen of the Jungle Stacey Solomon stunned students when she paid a surprise visit to her former college.

The 22-year-old, a finalist on The X Factor in 2009, dropped into Havering College of Further and Higher Education in Hornchurch last week to film a BBC documentary on teenage post-natal depression.

Ms Solomon, the winner of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2010, had been studying a National Diploma in Performing Arts (Musical Theatre) at the college when she first found fame.

The ditzy singer has since become famous as the face of budget supermarket chain Iceland and is currently a judge on ITV2's Top Dog Model.

During her visit, Ms Solomon, who previously starred in Havering College shows such as Oh! What A Lovely War at the London Palladium, was reunited with her former performing arts and dance tutors Sandra Broxton and Elaine O'Connor.

The mum of two joined a musical theatre class at the Ardleigh Green Campus and, with a film crew in tow, spoke about the support and encouragement that staff gave her when she discovered she was pregnant at 17.

Stacey, mum to four-year-old Zachary and four-month-old Leighton, said she was "so excited" when she started her course at Havering College, but later feared that having a baby would wreck her career.

"When I told them at college, they were really good about it," she said.

Despite not being able to take part in the dancing elements of her course for health and safety reasons, Stacey continued with the written elements.

"I felt like I was achieving something and getting somewhere," she said.

"I was determined to get a good education."

Ms Solomon's former musical theatre lecturer Simon Gray said: "Stacey was a hard-working member of an exceptional class which also included Dayo Olatunji who has worked with Chipmunk and Wiley. We are very proud of them."

During her visit, Ms Solomon told the musical theatre students: "If you want to do something you can do it. It doesn't matter who you are or what your background is. You've got to work hard but you can do it."

Performing Arts student Eden Bishop-Jones, 16, from Harold Hill, said: "Having Stacey Solomon come into our class and listen to us sing was great.

"I loved every minute of it."

Classmate Joanna Hunt, 16, from Doddinghurst, said: "It was a complete surprise.

"It was very exciting."

THE wife of the county's top firefighter has made a formal complaint to Brentwood Borough Council about the "disgraceful, offensive and disrespectful" behaviour of one of its members.

Elizabeth Johnson, the spouse of David Johnson, the chief fire officer of Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, said the "highly personalised campaign of harassment" being carried out against her and her husband by Hutton North borough councillor Russell Quirk had left her "deeply distressed".

She took exception to the Tory councillor claiming that she and her husband had moved house because of "matrimonial difficulties" and has also threatened to make a formal complaint of harassment about Mr Quirk to Essex Police.

Mr Johnson has complained about Mr Quirk too, accusing the councillor of attacking his professionalism and integrity and making "wholly inaccurate, offensive and defamatory" statements about his private life.

The fire chief describes Mr Quirk's conduct as "falling far below the standard required" by the borough council's code of conduct, suggesting he failed to treat him with respect and he had brought the council into disrepute.

Mrs Johnson, who gave her address as Buxhall, near Stowmarket, in Suffolk, lodged her complaint in July 2011 and her husband complained three months later, although details of the allegations only emerged for the first time this week ahead of a scheduled hearing into Mr Quirk's conduct.

The couple's complaints relate to comments made by Mr Quirk during a broadcast on Brentwood's community radio station Phoenix FM on July 1, 2011.

He had been a guest on a show called the Soap Box hosted by Chris Hossack, who is also a Tory councillor in Brentwood.

A separate complaint from Mr Johnson about the show to the broadcast regulator Ofcom was upheld in January this year.

Mr Quirk has been critical of Essex County Fire and Rescue Service since January 2011, when it decided to axe one of Brentwood Fire Station's full-time crews and replace it with a part-time, retained crew.

Mr Quirk believes this will "downgrade" fire cover in the town and "put lives at risk," an allegation which the fire service strenuously denies.

Following the complaints, the borough council's monitoring officer, Steve Boyle, asked Tim Ryder, the monitoring officer at Suffolk County Council, to investigate. In his report published this week, Mr Ryder concludes that Mr Quirk failed to treat Mrs Johnson with respect and so breached the borough council's code of conduct.

He did not, however, find that the councillor had brought his office into disrepute in respect of Mrs Johnson's complaint.

In respect of Mr Johnson's complaints, Mr Ryder also found that Mr Quirk had breached the council's code of conduct by failing to treat the firefighter with respect.

Once again, he did not find that the Tory's behaviour had brought the authority into disrepute, although he did find that Mr Quirk had been "deceitful" about Mr Johnson and the fire service.

The council had been due to discuss Mr Ryder's findings at a meeting of its standards consideration and hearing sub-committee on Friday, although the hearing has now been postponed.

Mr Quirk said in a statement: "Those that believe such pressure may serve to silence me are very much mistaken."

CUP fever has hit Brentwood Town with The Blues facing two major ties this month which could reap them another £7,750 in prize money.

This Saturday they go to Surrey side South Park in the FA Cup Second Qualifying Round with £4,500 at stake for the winners and later this month they host Ryman League Premier Division side Lewes in the FA Trophy Second Qualifying Round tie with £3,250 going to the victors.

"It's good for the club to be involved in cup ties but of more immediate concern is our league game against Harlow Town, where I will be looking for a win and three points," said manager Steve Witherspoon.

Three points from the game, played last night (Tuesday) would lift Town, currently third from bottom after only three league games, well away from the relegation area.

"This Saturday's FA Cup game is a great opportunity for us to get into the next round as they are a side that plays one level below us," he said. "But we won't underestimate them and we go there determined to do well and get the result we want."

Pleased with last Saturday's fine 2-1 away win against Walton & Hersham in the FA Trophy, which he described as hard working and well deserved, Witherspoon is delighted that in Monday's draw they were given a home tie against Lewes.

"It's always nice to get a home draw in any cup competition and again we want to win it and there's more prize money at stake too," he said. "But after the Harlow game our concentration will be on this Saturday's game which we want not only to win but also play well."

Town will though be missing influential striker Steve Butterworth who is suspended having been sent off for two yellows cards in the last FA Cup game at Maldon & Tiptree.

Meanwhile Billericay Town face Cambridge City away in the FA Cup on Saturday with manager Craig Edwards looking for his players to bounce back after two consecutive defeats.

After losing 3-0 at home to Basingstoke Town on Saturday they went to Boreham Wood on Monday where they lost 3-0.

"We did really well for the first 25 minutes but they brought on a couple of class substitutes and from then on we were second best," said Edwards. "They are the best side I've seen in this league this season."

Edwards is now looking for a good response from his players at City. "It's a cup game with no pressure and everything to play for and we'll be going there looking for a result."

He added: "There's good prize money at stake and we want to get into the next round."

ESSEX County Council has spent almost £900,000 of taxpayers' money in just three years on private medical insurance for senior members of staff.

The authority dipped into the public purse to the tune of £878,120 between April 2009 and April 2012 to provide medical cover for up to 331 employees.

The most expensive year was 2010/11, in which the council forked out £316,083 to pay for insurance for 284 workers.

The previous year, the bill was £291,995 for 331 staff, while the outlay was £270,041 for 287 employees in 2011/12.

As of September 6 this year, 264 members of staff are in receipt of medical cover, which is provided by healthcare giant Bupa.

The insurance policy is available to those at Band 7 or above – who earn from £46,000 to £210,000 a year – and provides cover for the employee and their spouse or the employee and their children.

Details of the payments were uncovered by the Gazette using the Freedom of Information Act.

Some 74 per cent of council tax paid by Brentwood residents goes to the county council.

Robert Oxley, campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "We are already paying the salaries of these staff and funding any NHS healthcare they require through our taxes, so there is no justification for fleecing taxpayers for private health insurance.

"This is an incredible amount of money to spend on perks for a select few staff at a time when everything must be done to find savings.

"County Hall staff already take home generous salaries: they don't need even more added perks and if they want private health insurance they can pay for it. What's more, if senior officials in the public sector aren't willing to use the NHS, it hardly imbues confidence in the system."

Liberal Democrat county councillor David Kendall, who represents Brentwood South, said: "I believe this perk should be axed and the money should be reinvested into frontline services.

"Many Essex residents haven't even got a decent pension to look forward to never mind the luxury of private medical insurance.

"It's high time the Tories running County Hall woke up to the realities faced by our taxpayers and put their house in order."

Tory Brentwood borough councillor Russell Quirk said: "Is a £900k private health care bill over three years justifiable?

"Would the 300 or so council staff that benefit from this only accept employment at Essex County Council on the basis that such a perk is included?

"I doubt that is the case."

A statement from the council read: "Essex County Council, as one of the largest local authorities in the country, wants to attract the best from all industries to help us deliver high quality services.

"One way is by offering the option of private medical insurance."

A council spokesman claimed that giving senior employees medical insurance helped the authority to save money. He said: "Essex County Council wishes to recruit and retain the highest calibre of employees and this benefit is part of the remuneration package.

"This has helped the council to deliver a complex change programme, which has so far saved around £370 million."

VILE racist abuse filmed at an Ongar petrol station and uploaded on to the internet has prompted a police investigation.

Footage showing a white man hurling abuse at a cashier working at the BP petrol station, at the Four Wantz roundabout, was posted on YouTube.

The man, wearing a blue jumper, can be heard repeatedly shouting racist insults at the employee, who appears to be of Asian descent.

The tirade of abuse lasts several minutes and takes place at night as the man buys cigarettes from the outside window counter.

The manager of the petrol station said the incident was not reported to police, because such abuse happens "all the time".

As such, it is not clear when the abuse took place.

The man filming the video refers to the abuser as "Goldy".

The maker of the video can be heard sniggering and remarking "this is going on YouTube".

Several users of web forums cite murdered ex-gangster William "Billyboy" Martindale as the man behind the camera.

Mr Martindale, 39, from Cripsey Avenue, was murdered in High Ongar on September 7.

It is believed Mr Martindale, who used YouTube to post intimidating messages, first uploaded the racist video before later removing it.

It was subsequently reloaded by a user named "John Doe" with the aim of getting police to "act on Goldy".

BP said the company has a policy of not accepting physical or verbal abuse aimed at its staff and that it would be looking to secure a prosecution against the man.

Police officers are working with petrol station staff to determine when the incident took place.

PC Mark Sheridan-Brown, neighbourhood constable for Ongar, said: "This is disturbing racist abuse. There appears to be no motive, but we would like to identify the perpetrator, arrest him and ask why.

"Racist behaviour of any sort is abhorrent and is always treated seriously by Essex Police.

"We want to encourage anyone who is the victim or witness of any incident or crime to report it to the police immediately in the knowledge that Essex Police will respond and investigate."

Anyone with information is asked to call Ongar police station on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

A PORTRAIT depicting the shamed former leader of Essex County Council has been quietly taken down and placed in storage while the police probe into his expenses continues.

The oil painting of Lord Hanningfield, who led the authority between 2001 and 2010, has been removed from display at County Hall and deposited at the Essex Record Office in Chelmsford.

The peer was jailed for nine months last year, after a court found him guilty of fiddling his House of Lords expenses to the tune of nearly £14,000. However he was released after just nine weeks.

The council was this week unable to say when Lord Hanningfield's portrait was moved, although the Gazette understands it was spirited away from the authority's HQ around three months ago.

The painting depicts the Tory politician, formerly Paul White, during his time as county council chairman from 1989 to 1992.

It was painted by the British artist June Mendoza, whose other subjects include the Queen, former prime ministers John Major and Margaret Thatcher, the singer and artist Rolf Harris and the broadcaster Terry Wogan.

The Gazette visited the Essex Record Office on Friday to see if the painting had been put on public display but it was nowhere to be seen.

The expenses which Lord Hanningfield claimed while he was leader of the council are currently being investigated by City of London Police.

The 72-year-old former pig farmer, who was made Baron Hanningfield in 1998, remains on bail while enquiries continue.

Liberal Democrat county councillor David Kendall, who represents Brentwood South, said this week: "I am not surprised that this has happened because the Tory administration seems to want to banish any visible connections with Lord Hanningfield.

"It seems to have been done a little bit in the dead of the night and a lot of people wouldn't have realised it went.

"I think they were trying to be subtle about it but I think that has now backfired.

"At the end of the day, he is a past chairman and I am not aware of anyone else's painting being removed."

Brentwood Tory borough councillor Russell Quirk said the decision to take down the portrait smacked of "petty picture posturing behind the scenes at County Hall in an attempt to erase people from civic history".

"Don't these people have better things to do with their time, for instance, finding the many pictures within their custody that seem to be amiss?" he said.

"To try to pretend that Lord Hanningfield made no positive contribution to Essex in his many years in public service by hiding his portrait is petty and unnecessary."

A council spokesman simply said: "The portrait has been removed while a police investigation is taking place.

"The decision was taken by the chairman of the council."

The Gazette could not reach council chairman Kay Twitchen for comment as she is away on leave.

Lord Hanningfield, who represented Stock while county council leader, had not answered our calls or returned our messages as we went to press yesterday.

A HOUSE full of partying teenagers on a Friday night, a disagreement that ended in a slap around the face. Four friends decided it was safe to drive home.

Dale Carlier, 18, was killed after he lost control of his car along Western Road, Billericay. His elder brother and two friends were also injured in the accident.

An inquest on Thursday revealed the tragic chain of events preceding the accident, which happened at 1.50am on Saturday, April 21, just three miles from the Carlier family home in Hutton.

The court heard how Dale, from Coram Green, had been drinking at the house party in Billericay, but had "fully intended" to get a taxi home.

However, an altercation took place at the party between Dale and a man aged in his 30s.

After the minor assault, Dale left the party along with his brother Niall, 20, and friends Tom Balchen, 20, and 17-year-old David Franklin.

A routine toxicology report found Dale to be nearly one and a half times over the drink drive limit, a "moderate degree of intoxication", according to PC Steve Perrett, forensic collision investigator, but one which would have impaired his balance and reduced his alertness.

Mr Perrett had attended the accident scene, not far from the junction of Western Road and London Road. No other vehicles were involved in the accident, he told the inquest.

The court heard there were no defects in Dale's black Ford Fiesta or the road and that conditions were "good".

Western Road, a residential road notorious for speeding drivers, has a speed limit of 30mph.

Mr Perrett told the inquest that Dale, who was not wearing a seat belt, had been driving at a speed between 50 and 60mph when he lost control of the vehicle.

Travelling south towards London Road, the car spun in a clockwise direction with the driver's door taking the full brunt of the sideways impact with a brick pillar on a driveway and a metal gate.

The collision halted the spin and overturned the teenager's car. A tree was also uprooted in the crash and a power cable was damaged, knocking out electricity to the street lights.

The car came to a rest on the driver's side.

"[Dale] had begun to lose control early on and was trying to correct it, but there was just not room to do that," said Mr Perrett, adding that such an impact at that speed was "rarely survivable".

Mr Perrett said the seat belt would have had "no effect" had it been worn.

The passenger in the front seat, Mr Franklin, had been wearing his seat belt, the court heard.

The rear offside passenger had also been wearing his seat belt and Mr Perrett said he was "not sure" about whether the seat belt on the rear near side had been worn.

While the police investigation findings were read out, the Carlier family, comprising mum Sharon, dad Adam and Dale's grandma, listened in silence, fighting back the tears.

Sitting at the opposite end of the table in the hearing room on Thursday afternoon was Dale's natural father, Shaun Purkiss, from Chelmsford.

"The character of Dale was such that, had the altercation not taken place at this party, he would never have got in the car. His intention was to get a taxi home," said Mrs Carlier, after hearing the police findings.

"I just want the court to be aware of his state of mind."

Dale, a former Brentwood County High School pupil, was studying Public Services at Chelmsford College with the view of becoming a policeman.

A post-mortem examination found the cause of death to be multiple injuries.

Recording her verdict, coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray said: "I have come to the conclusion that this was a tragic accident.

"Dale Jordan Carlier died as the result of an accident. It was a tragic, tragic accident and it's very sad.

"It's quite clear that he had, earlier in the evening, been intending not to drive, but there we are, these things happen. He was a much-loved young man and I would like to again express the court's sympathy to you all upon his loss."

Essex Police investigated the man involved in the altercation with Dale at the party, but no further action was taken against him as it was deemed "not in the public interest".

A BRENTWOOD businessman caught with more than 100 up-skirt film clips of women has expressed remorse for his behaviour and described how he "went off the rails".

Sex addict Nicholas Holt, who owns the Brentwood Computer Repairs Shop in Ropers Yard, off Hart Street, was arrested after he was observed using his mobile phone to film up a female commuter's skirt on an escalator at Tottenham Court Road Underground Station.

Staff at the station had been alerted by a member of the public who said he had seen Holt, 41, filming the woman while trying to hide his phone in a newspaper.

Two films were found on his phone, one of the woman he was seen to be filming and one of another victim recorded at the same station.

Prosecutor Zoe Jacob told Westminster Magistrates' Court last week: "The first was footage of the lower legs of a white, western European female walking along the platform.

"It was clear that the station was Tottenham Court Road. The woman was then seen walking up the stairs in the footage.

"You can see her underwear, she was wearing a white thong – you can see her buttocks."

Ms Jacob added that the second video was also an up-skirt recording showing a woman's underwear and bottom.

Police found 128 similar up-skirt film clips on hard disks when they searched Holt's home, although they have been unable to charge him because the women in these clips cannot be identified.

Andrew Moxon, defending, told the court his client had taken steps to try to deal with his sexual addiction, explaining that, since his arrest, Holt had been seeing a counsellor at the Marylebone Centre in London.

"He immediately expressed relief at being caught because that meant that he could now, in the open, get the help that he needed," Mr Moxon said.

"He himself went out to get himself a mobile phone that doesn't have a camera."

Holt had previously admitted a single count of outraging public decency at Westminster Magistrates' Court on March 30.

When he was sentenced last week, Holt, of Brook Road, Romford, was made the subject of a 12-month supervision order and told to undertake a specified sexual offending course.

The Gazette visited Holt at his shop last week to ask if he would like to comment.

He subsequently e-mailed us a statement, which read: "I am extremely remorseful of what I did when I went off the rails.

"I intend to repay society in full. I deeply regret any inconvenience caused but I am extremely grateful to all my friends and family who have helped and stood by me.

"For the last six months already I have undertaken many counselling services to establish why, and I have taken preventative steps to ensure it's impossible for this to happen again."

STAFF at Brentwood Borough Council spent a total of nearly nine weeks on Facebook last year.

The council's 300+ employees visited the social networking website on 659,762 occasions for a combined 1,486 hours, 53 minutes and 28 seconds between April 2011 and April 2012.

Over the same period, staff spent nearly 19 weeks on the photo-sharing website Flickr, 10 weeks on the BBC website and four weeks on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

Other popular destinations included www.localgov.co.uk, a news website for local government workers (six weeks) and a lettings website called CB Lettings (two and a half weeks).

The websites of Debenhams and River Island were also among the 100 most visited sites, as was property site www.rightmove.co.uk.

Pressure group The TaxPayers' Alliance said: "Council employees are meant to work for taxpayers, not spend their time surfing the web for property.

"Despite the council's guidelines, the sheer amount of time spent by staff on Facebook will leave many with the suspicion that it is not simply being used outside of working hours.

"Only a small number of staff need to use social media as part of their jobs, others should tweet in their own time.

"These are taxpayers' resources and time being used. Local authorities need to tighten up the rules to prevent their misuse."

A council spokesman said: "We have a clear internet usage policy and we monitor it regularly to ensure no breaches.

"We take action if too long a time is spent inappropriately on the internet.

"We have rarely found that we have needed to do this but we have acted firmly on the very few occasions when it has been necessary to resolve a problem.

"Facebook is used an average 1.2 mins per employee each working day and it is used to promote council events and for other business purposes too – that's within our policy."

Council leader Louise McKinlay added: "We need to be adult enough to appreciate that the internet has a part to play in modern-day lives.

"Not only is it used for legitimate council business – and that includes Facebook – but staff may also use it during lunch breaks or after work, which they often do, in between the working day finishing and a council meeting starting in the evening."

LUCIANO BACHETA has won the FIA Formula Two Championship.

The Brentwood driver led from the first race of the season and finished 21.5 points ahead of his closest rival Matheo Tuscher.

He sealed the title by coming fourth and third in Monza, Italy over the weekend in a series of dramatic races and qualifying laps in which he twice ran off the track. But he held his nerve and his car, just about, intact to triumph.

"It's just about sinking in," he told the Gazette.

"So many people know about it. My twitter's gone a bit mental, it was constantly buzzing for about four hours.

"A lot of people have given me a lot of support and congratulations."

In all he won five of the season's 16 races and finished on the podium on ten occasions.

As part of his prize the 22-year-old now has the chance to test drive a Williams Formula One car at Silverstone in two weeks' time as he chases his ultimate dream of being a fully fledged F1 driver. That testing will also earn him an FIA Super Licence, which is required to compete in Formula One Grands Prix.

"This is a big step for me, it's completely stepping in to the unknown and I don't know completely what to expect," he said.

"It's like Christmas, I've worked so hard for this.

"Every driver works towards Formula One and to be given the chance to drive the car and with such a good team as well, it's not a back of the grid team, so it's brilliant."

He's already been welcomed in to the team by legendary owner Frank Williams, who said: "I'd like to pass on my personal congratulations to Luciano for winning the F2 title, a feat made all the more impressive by the way he achieved it with an unprecedented four consecutive wins at the start of the season.

"We look forward to putting him through his paces when he tests with us and I'm sure he will learn a great deal from the experience."

Bacheta, a former Sawyers Hall College student, has always been confident of closing out the championship since storming to back-to-back victories at Silverstone at the opening weekend in mid-April. But it's his obsessive attention to detail and determination at getting the most out of the car that seems to have set him apart from the rest.

"All year I've had this on my shoulders, I breath it you know," he said.

"It's turned in to my life, particularly when the season's in progress.

"I'm always trying to find some kind of advantage, I'm always trying to find a new thing to do with the car to make us faster.

"You don't have to do it to be fast always but to be consistently at the top you have to dedicate yourself to it and get as much information as you can.

"I was so aggressive early on in the championship that it meant I could measure my driving a bit more afterwards."

Going in to the weekend Bacheta had a comfortable 33.5 point advantage over his closest challenger.

Testing went well in the dry but the rain fell during qualifying and he ran in to difficulties. Trying to overtake a slower car he spun on to the grass, narrowly missing the tyre wall and damaging his tyres and front left wing – he still managed to qualify second.

There was more drama to follow in the race itself. When trying to overtake the leader he sped off in to the gravel and damaged his car again and had to settle for fourth.

On the Sunday other crashes in front of him meant he was denied his last two flying qualifying laps and was only seventh on the grid.

But with Tuscher only one place in front, he was still in pole position for the title.

Bacheta made his way through the field to finish third and clinch the title. "It was a weird weekend but we brought it home," said Bacheta.

"I was just delighted to get it done."

Born in Romford, Bacheta didn't take to motorsport until relatively late. His first experience of racing was aged 13 at Brentwood Karting in Warley.

The next year he was racing regularly at Buckmore Park and he slowly moved through the gears by winning the BRSCC T-Cars Championship in 2006.

He went on to race in Formula Palmer Audi, Formula Renault 2.0 WEC, Eurocup and GP3 before moving to F2 towards the end of last season.

Next season he wants to earn a Formula One reserve role as well as race in GP2, the level below F1.

He said: "We're aiming next year for either GP2 or World Series Renault. GP2 being the primary aim but it's also the most expensive.

Also coupled with that I'd also land a third role with a formula one team, that's the current aim."

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