LE TOUR de France, the greatest cycle race in the world, will pass through Essex next year.

Organisers of Le Tour have traced a rough path of the route more than 200 of the world's best cyclists will take as they cut through north-west Essex on day three of the 2014 Tour.

Several villages east of the M11, including Moreton, Matching Green and North Weald could be hosting thousands of race spectators as they cheer on the current Tour champion Bradley Wiggins, and compatriots Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish.

Hoping to join that trio in the race is Alex Dowsett, a 24-year-old cyclist from Maldon, who is especially familiar with the country lanes the race could be passing through.

Dowsett, who has recently joined the Spanish team Movistar from Team Sky, said: "I am really hopeful that I will make the tour in 2014. It will be great to be riding through countryside in my home county. It will be such a buzz.

"I'm hoping to complete the Tour of Italy this year and then compete in the Tour de France next year.

"It will be especially good for me because I know the county well. The teams only take the fittest and the best eight or nine riders, but I think that having it in Essex is great."

The university city of Cambridge provides the setting for the beginning of the third day of the Tour de France when the UK hosts the Grand Départ in 2014.

Although the Tour's organisers have yet to finalise the exact route, the race is expected to pass through or very close to Saffron Walden, Takeley, Hatfield Broad Oak, and Hatfield Heath before it reaches Matching Green, Moreton and North Weald. It will then follow the A104 Epping New Road into central London where the race ends in The Mall.

John Binder, chairman of Matching Green Parish Council, said: "It's going to be great for us if it comes through here. I'm sure there will be the odd stick-in-the-mud but I would think the whole parish will be very excited to host part of the Tour de France.

"Apart from anything else, we might even get some of our potholes fixed. That will be a bonus in itself."

Alex Dowsett on how he views one-time 'idol and hero' Lance Armstrong back page

A YOUTH hockey club and a school have linked up in order to discover the hockey stars of tomorrow.

Blue Hornets, Dunmow & Braintree's youth hockey club, and Felsted School have announced they are to develop a centre of excellence.

For the past four years Blue Hornets have trained at Felsted School and over this time the club has gone from strength to strength.

Club manager Charlie Fillingham said: "Not only can we give the children more hockey practice at the weekend, we are really looking forward to ensuring they get the best quality coaching on offer.

"Felsted have also given us use of their indoor facilities, which will be great for those frosty mornings. We are proud to be one of the best teams in the area and with this new partnership we have our sights firmly set on taking our players to the nationals."

With expanded facilities now available, the players can expect more hockey, focused coaching, dedicated sessions for goalkeepers, improved timings for practice and – most importantly – all children able to enjoy competitive hockey against some of the best teams in East Anglia.

To recognise the support from Felsted School, the club will be known from January 2013 onwards as Blue Hornets Felsted. It continues to be the youth section of Phoenix Hockey Club (Dunmow & Braintree hockey club adult section) and an integral part of the community, welcoming children from all schools across the area to share in the superb facilities at Felsted, which includes two Astroturf pitches.

An additional Astroturf pitch is now available immediately for the club to use and is the first, big step towards the fulfilment of the clubs ambitions.

Dr Walker, head teacher of Felsted School said: "We are delighted to be working with the Blue Hornets to create a Centre of Excellence at Felsted School.

"This will not only benefit children in the local area, but our own pupils who wish to play more hockey. Many of our younger pupils are already members, but we are particularly keen to support the Club in expanding the older age groups so our keenest hockey players can receive quality hockey coaching and play more top level matches, including indoor, over two terms."

If you would like to be part of the Blue Hornets then visit www.bluehornetshc.co.uk.

STAFF and volunteers at a 130-year-old Brentwood church are within touching distance of raising the £55,000 to repair the building's leaky roof.

Just £6,000 is now needed to pay for the restoration of the southern side of the roof of St Thomas of Canterbury church, in St Thomas Road.

The completion of this work will mark the conclusion of a seven-year project to restore the building to its former glory.

Father Colin Hewitt, the vicar of the church, said: "Because the south side of the roof has less weather on it, it was left to the end, but now it needs replacing. "We've already had leaks – water's starting to come through.

"We've got some beautiful items in the church that need preserving, and with weddings coming up, all of these need to be watertight."

The church has already received many donations from its congregation, national charities and members of the public.

However, people do not need to give much, as Mr Hewitt explained.

"People give little bits and that's really good," he told the Gazette.

He added that, as the church had to gain permission from both English Heritage and the Diocese of Chelmsford, the project must be finished by the middle of this year.

For more information about the appeal, or to make a donation, you can call the church centre on 01277 201 094.

BRENTWOOD'S current six-match unbeaten run is evidence of an increased maturity in the squad, according to director of rugby Steve Killington.

In their fourth season in London 1 North the club are sitting in fifth place and are set for their highest-ever finish.

This Saturday's game at Luton fell foul of the snowy weather, which gave Killington the chance to reflect on their season to date. "I think the players have matured a little," he said.

"When we first got promoted to this league we lost a few players that had been playing for a little while and the younger players did come in.

"These players are only 21 or 22 now and they started playing when they were 17 or 18 and that's made a big difference.

"We've made a couple of additions as well and now we're a better team overall.

"We used to rely on our forwards and now our backs are more instrumental in what we do."

As well as some sound additions, Killington thinks another reason for their improvement is down to coach Elliot Shaw, who has been to work with the club's backs.

"It's helped as it means I can work with the forwards more and it's made a difference," he said.

"He's trying to get the backs to be more confident in themselves and to express themselves a bit more rather than just waiting to see what happens."

A top-five finish is the minimum aim this season and Killington is now keen to get some results against the division's elite clubs.

"I think the players are looking forward to putting in a better performance than they did earlier in the season," he said. "We'd like to be more competitive against Letchworth, Bury, Colchester and Eton Manor and so on.

"If we can stay where we are or maybe move up one or two places then that'll be a real achievement and then hopefully we can move on next year.

"If we hold on to the current crop of players and a couple of teams get promoted we should be looking to be a lot more competitive – but you can't guarantee anything."

This Saturday, weather permitting, Brentwood host bottom of the table Rochford Hundred.

Although on paper it would seem a simple prospect, Killington is wary of the opposition who they defeated 28-12 in the reverse fixture.

He said: "They're really struggling but when we played them earlier in the season I thought they were a team who looked quite dangerous when they attacked . . . that said I would expect us to beat them."

Flanker Chris Stewart will be out for the next two weeks with rib injury, otherwise Brentwood have a fully fit squad.

NOTHING – including snow and a frozen pitch – was going to stop a determined group of rugby players from taking the field in honour of two Billericay residents who lost their lives prematurely to devastating illnesses last year.

Emotions ran high before kick-off on Sunday as around 150 people observed a minute's silence in memory of Daniel Hannaway, 10, and Julie Knapp, 50.

Ian Hannaway, 42, the father of Daniel, from Second Avenue, and David Knapp, 51, the husband of Julie, from Ramsden Heath, were roared on by friends and family as they played the charity tournament, which raised more than £4,000 for Little Haven's and St Luke's Hospice.

Daniel, a pupil at Quilter's Junior School, died at Basildon Hospital a year ago on Saturday after struggling for most of his life with Type Three Gaucher's Disease, a very rare brain condition.

Julie, a mother-of-two, lost her battle with cancer in July.

NURSES at Chelmsford's new sexual health clinic were delighted to show it off to the community.

Health executives, medical staff and the Mayor and Mayoress of Chelmsford celebrated the official opening of the Fairfield Centre, in the grounds of the bus station, in Dukes Walk, on Thursday last week.

Since moving from the old clinic, on New London Road, last September, the team has noticed a sharp increase in the number of patients visiting.

Senior Sister Barbara Phillips has been working in sexual health for 18 years and has seen a big change in the stigma attached to such issues.

She said: "It is very low compared to years ago when I began working in this area.

"It was a scandal to come to one of these places, if you were seen it was like 'oh, who have you been sleeping with?'

"But it is people's responsibility to come here and people now are more aware of that."

Sister Phillips believes the average age of a patient is 17 to 35-years-old but, she added: "There is also a statistic that there has been a rise of patients between the age of 35 and 60-years-old who are separating or divorced, who visit before they start a new relationship."

The centre has ten clinical examination rooms, a laboratory, offices, recuperation room and consulting rooms.

Since moving centres, they have been able to extend opening times by an extra day a week, and now open Monday to Saturday from 8am.

There are also outreach centres in Maldon, Braintree and South Woodham Ferrers for people who cannot make it into the city.

"We needed the support from the executives to make this happen and we could not have done it without them," said Sister Phillips.

The team consists of about 20 full-time staff, including receptionists, nurses, a PA, advisors and health care workers.

Their aim is to advise all patients to undergo a full check up, even if they are just worried about one particular infection.

Of all sexually transmitted infections (STIs), nurses have said people contracting chlamydia is still the most common, but on the rise is the number treated for herpes.

New nurse to the team Sarah O'Connor said: "People often come in saying they are concerned about chlamydia, but if they think they have this, it is highly probable they have something else as well.

"When you explain it to them about how they benefit from having a full check-up, most of them do it, but there are some who are adamant they just want to do what they want.

"Visitors arrive with very sensitive issues, but they always comment on how welcoming everyone is.

Stigma

"We hope we can somehow remove some of the stigma attached to these issues, after all, it is the same as visiting your GP or dentist."

Lead nurse Lorena Allinson is proud of her new clinic.

She said: "We help people here with their testing and treatments; it is all free, like it should be.

"When I started in the field it was all about wart treatment, but now people do that themselves and use the clinic to get tested for HIV, and all STIs.

"We want to make this the most welcoming place for people; this is the best job in the world because you get to talk to people, and I love talking to people."

CHEAPER flights and more long-haul destinations could be on their way to Stansted after the airport was sold to the Manchester Airports Group for £1.5 billion.

The group, which is owned by ten local councils in Greater Manchester, beat Malaysia Airports and Australian investment bank Macquarie to the deal, which critics claim puts an end to fears of a second runway being built – for now.

MAG chief executive Charlie Cornish said: "We are delighted to be successful in our bid for Stansted Airport, the London airport for Europe.

"The transaction represents a significant milestone in the achievement of our previously stated strategy of adding a quality airport to the group and delivering long term value to our shareholders.

"MAG has a strong track record of creating shareholder value through strategic investment and enhancing operations to improve customer service and drive increased passenger numbers.

"We will use that expertise at Stansted to ensure that the airport can fulfil its potential as a high quality alternative London access point for global air travellers.

"Stansted has scope to benefit from significant volume growth over the short, medium and long term. Our bid for Stansted has been under development for well over a year."

The sale is expected to be completed by the end of February 2013, and until then, bosses at Stansted Airport say they cannot comment, so nothing has been said about what the sale means for the 10,000 workers there.

However, MAG says it has a "detailed integration plan to ensure a seamless transition of ownership and operations", while Unite the Union, which represents 1,000 workers at the airport, say they are positive about the deal.

Manchester taxpayers have not funded the deal, because the cash has been raised through MAG selling a 35.5 per cent stake of its company to an Australia firm called Industry Funds Management.

Meanwhile, Manchester council will reduce its stake from 55 per cent to 35.5 per cent, while the other nine smaller local authorities, which each have a five per cent stake, will share the remaining 29 per cent.

Brian Ross, Economics Adviser for the Stop Stansted Expansion campaign group, believes the purchase is good news for Essex travellers and provides "cautious reassurance" to the people living near the airport that a second runway will not be built.

"Manchester Airport's second runway was completed in 2001, but they did not need it, he said.

"They were thinking it would help them to expand to 50 million passengers a year, but they're doing just under 19 million , which is not much bigger than Stansted.

He said airports with one runway can accommodate up to 45 million passengers, so Stansted, with 18 million passengers, could grow without the need for a second runway.

BAA, now known as Heathrow Airport Holdings, was forced to put the airport up for sale in August, after it lost its fifth appeal against the Competition Commission's 2009 ruling that it must sell to break its monopoly of UK airports.

BAA now owns just four UK airports; Heathrow, Southampton, Aberdeen and Glasgow, after it also had to sell Gatwick and Edinburgh.

Colin Matthews, chief executive of Heathrow, said: "Stansted and its people have been part of our company for a long time. It has been named by passengers as 'the world's best airport for low-cost airlines' for two consecutive years and we are proud of its achievements.

"We wish the new owners every success and are confident it will continue to flourish."

A CHELMSFORD engineer who claimed that sex abuse by his uncle – veteran Radio 1 DJ Chris Denning – turned him into a paedophile has been jailed for 18 months.

Paul Anthony Denning pleaded guilty to a string of sex assaults over a six-year period in the 1970s on a girl of just five when they began.

But the 59-year-old claimed he was turned into a sex offender by his father's stepbrother, Chris Denning, who is currently serving a five-year prison sentence in Slovakia for child sex offences.

His counsel, Jonathan Lennon, told Chelmsford Crown Court last Thursday: "He was abused by his father's stepbrother – Chris Denning, the first Radio 1 DJ.

"It all came to light before the Jimmy Savile affair.

"It had a devastating effect upon him.

"He's moved on and got on with his life but that is now shattered."

He said victims of abuse often would turn into abusers themselves.

The charges involved offences in what was described by the judge as a "campaign of abuse".

The court was told that Denning, of Sawkins Avenue, Chelmsford, was 16 when he began committing the offences.

Jailing him, Judge Karen Walden-Smith told the court: "Matters were complicated by the fact that at or around that time you were being abused by your own uncle and your sexual boundaries were blurred considerably."

But, as she jailed Denning, who had been a carer for his mother, 90, and his 88-year-old father and had been in a stable relationship, the judge added: "These offences are of a very grave nature committed on a young child over a number of years.

"This was a gross abuse and a campaign of abuse.

"Although I recognise you were the victim of abuse."

She said that Denning's offending had had a devastating effect on his victim.

"It was a persistent course of sexual offending," she added.

A FAMILY have said they will sue a primary school after they claimed their son was force-fed by teachers until he vomited.

Antony and Michelle Read said they will take legal action after teachers at St Cedd's Church of England Primary School, in Bradwell-on-Sea, allegedly forced their son Oliver, five, to eat his lunch, causing him to be sick.

Head teacher Pauline Ward said the alleged incident, in 2008, involved teachers that were no longer at the school.

In a statement issued through Essex County Council, she said: "This is an issue that is alleged to have occurred at St Cedd's a number of years ago prior to my taking up the headship and involved staff members who are no longer associated with the school.

"While the parents are disappointed with how the issue was dealt with at the time I can categorically confirm that today, were such an action to occur, the allegation would be dealt with appropriately and the staff member would be subject to disciplinary action."

But the couple, who live in Bradwell-on-Sea, continue to want answers for their son, now 10, and point to a letter from the governors and previous head teachers to support their case.

The letter, dated June 7, 2011, and addressed to Mr and Mrs Read, said: "With regard to the reported incident where your son was forced to eat lunch until he vomited, the governors and head teacher acknowledge your distress and concern, and agree that such practice is entirely inappropriate.

"As a result of this, the incident would now be dealt with quite differently and the behaviour and actions as you report would not be tolerated."

Michelle said she first found out about the alleged incident when she picked Oliver up from the school on East End Road.

She said: "A teacher was walking toward me shouting my name, telling me they'd had problems with Oliver and that he'd refused to eat. Then she said 'they had made him eat'."

She claims he looked "pale and weak" and told her he had been sick.

She added: "When I got him home I was disgusted to find vomit stains on his clothes smelling strongly. He'd been left in those clothes all day."

Oliver has since been expelled from the school and spent two years at home before securing a place at a special school in Oxfordshire, called The Mulberry Bush.

"We just want answers for our son," said Antony. "He might have been a difficult little boy at times and we admit he has had some problems, but at the end of the day he was a five-year-old boy."

Michelle added: "I don't want Oliver to turn around when he's older and ask me why we didn't do anything when we knew this had gone on. I want him to know we tried everything."

THE amount of money paid to senior management staff at the borough council has barely changed, even though the overall salary bill has been reduced by £1.3 million over the past three years.

In 2010/2011 there were nine senior officers working for Brentwood Borough Council, paid a total of £707,903.

In 2011/2012 the number of officers increased to 12 and the total paid out increased to £913,070.

Leader of Brentwood Borough Council, Louise McKinlay, says the projected pay for senior management for 2012 and 2013 is £703,000.

The total figure of £913,070 paid out between 2011/2012 equates to about 10 per cent of the £9.1 million annual council budget.

The increase alone of £205,000 equates to the council tax paid by 140 band D homes.

In addition, the council has revealed that the number of non-executive interims paid more than £50,000 a year between 2011 and 2012, was £401,817.

That figure has since increased slightly to £417,000.

Since 2009, the number of rank and file staff have been reduced by more than 10 per cent since the council started its organisational review.

A total of 63 positions have also been made redundant since 2009, including the town centre manager, the dog warden and a planning officer.

Overall staffing costs have been reduced by £1.3 million between the period 2009/10 and 2012/13, the council has said.

There have been redundancy pay outs totalling £730,000 in that period.

William Lloyd (Warley), one of four councillors who resigned the Tory whip last month, said: "This revelation uncovers a situation that does not provide the taxpayer with the value from their public services that they expect in these tougher times."

Fellow newly independent councillor, Russell Quirk (Hutton North), said: "It's horrendous that the council has reduced staff costs by so much but senior management have gone up."

Mrs McKinlay told the Gazette: "Nowhere is as transparent as Brentwood Borough Council is about pay.

"The details of all our senior staff and their pay are published online – and not just for the previous financial year (as is the legal obligation) but we also publish the current rates and from a lower level of pay than is our obligation."

FLOOD alerts have been issued across the UK today thanks to overnight and continuing rainfall and rapidly melting snow.

The Met Office has warned that this combination is likely to lead to "localised surface water" and river flooding. 

By mid-morning the Environment Agency had issued 45 flood alerts - where flooding "is possible" - for areas in the south east of England and 45 in the Anglian region.

Fourteen flood warnings - where flooding "is expected" had been issued for the Anglian region.

A total of 291 flood alerts had been issued for the UK and 55 flood warnings.

Essex Police searching for missing Luton man Edward Gillespie have recovered a body from Roydon Marina. 

A member of the public on a boat spotted the body in the water and alerted officers just before 10.40am on Saturday (January 26).

Essex Police marine units took the body to a nearby hospital. 

Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Hooper said: "The body has not been formally identified at this time but we have suspended our search for Ed and his family have been informed of this discovery."

He added that the coroner had been informed of the discovery and police would now be working with her to confirm the identity of the deceased.

AN 80-year-old woman suffered from smoke inhalation when a fire started in her kitchen.

Fire crews were called to her flat in Hill Top Close, Rayleigh, shortly before noon yesterday (Saturday, January 26).

The fire was out before the arrival of the crews - members of which administered first aid to the pensioner.

She was then sent to hospital in an ambulance.

A MOTHER and her two children fled to safety when a fire started in the loft of their home .

The family were outside their semi-detatched house in Sycamore Road, Colchester, when fire crews arrived at 11.36am yesterday (Saturday, January 26). to put out the blaze.

Station officer Trevor Watson from Colchester fire station said: "The loft area was heavily smoked-logged and crews wearing breathing apparatus quickly extinguished the fire and prevented it from spreading to the house next door."

He added" "It appears the fire started when an electrical cable overheated and caught fire to clothes and books stored in the loft area."

AN 18-year-old has been arrested by police investigating reports that a gun-wielding man was spotted in Dunmow.

Armed police and a helicopter scoured the town last Thursday (January 24) afternoon after receiving reports of a man with what was believed to be a gun in the waistband of his trousers.

No initial trace of the suspect was found but on Friday (January 25) police arrested the man - who is from the Dunmow area - in connection with the investigation.

He was taken to a police station for questioning and has been bailed to report back on Thursday February 14.

A suspected BB gun has also been recovered.

POLICE are appealing for witnesses or information about a burglary in which a cream-coloured safe containing thousands of pounds was stolen.

The burglary took place in a house in Upper Park, Harlow, on Friday (25 January) between 3pm and 6pm.

Thieves smashed the patio windows at the property to get in before carrying out an untidy search of the home.

They also stole a lot of jewellery including rings, bangles and necklaces.

Anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the area on Friday afternoon or has been offered similar items for sale can contact DC Georgette Beckett at Essex Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

POLICE are appealing for information on the whereabouts of a man who is suspected of sending threatening text messages.
The suspect Paul Dowman, aged 31, is previously been known to have been living in the Billericay area but his current whereabouts is unknown.
Anyone who believes they have information that would assist police can contact DC Chris Rhodes at Essex Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.