THOUSANDS of people in the district have applied to join an initiative aimed at boosting trade at independent stores.

The indi card was set up by Braintree District Council in a bid to encourage shoppers to back family-run businesses.

And since its launch last September, 7,500 people have signed up to the discount scheme.

Braintree resident Martine Widlake said: "I used my indi card when I purchased an item of jewellery for a Christmas present in Braintree, and it was great to receive a discount.

"I think it's a great idea as it encourages you to consider the shops that are local first, rather than travelling to other towns."

Stores in Witham and Halstead have also got involved with the scheme. More than 100 businesses are now signed up and latest offers can be viewed at www.braintree.gov.uk.

Councillor Chris Siddall said: "The indi scheme provides shoppers with a great diverse range of offers – from discounts on clothes and accessories to saving money on meals out."

Shoppers can pick up an indi card from the council offices in Braintree, Witham Library and participating shops. Alternatively request one at www.braintree.gov.uk or call 01376 552525.

A GRIEVING family who have waited three years for an inquest into the death of a loved one who was not resuscitated at Broomfield hospital have labelled the system "a sham".

Christine Shinwell, 63, died of heart failure in Broomfield Hospital 11 days after being admitted with a fractured knee in November 2009.

Despite having a "long and complex medical history", her husband Colin Green, 50, and daughter, Heidi Coles, believe that the hospital have misled them "at every opportunity" in trying to find out why Mrs Shinwell died.

And after three years of waiting for answers, dozens of Mrs Shinwell's family and friends gathered to hear evidence given at the inquest on Monday.

Mrs Shinwell's heart was in poor condition and she also suffered from renal failure and diabetes, but all of her conditions were managed by medication, the inquest heard.

She was due to be discharged from Broomfield hospital just two days after going into hospital, before suffering chest pains.

The court at County Hall, Chelmsford, heard that her heart was twice the size of a normal one and that resuscitating her may not have helped her.

But the family are furious that they were not informed of this and of Mrs Shinwell's deteriorating condition along the way.

"I said that my wife is a fighter and I would like her to be fully resuscitated and everything possible to be done," Colin told the Chronicle after the inquest.

However, at the inquest on Monday, where six doctors gave evidence, Colin sobbed as he heard that, when his wife fell critically ill in the early hours of the morning of December 4 2009, Dr Anser Qureshi gave the order to not resuscitate her over the telephone, despite not having seen the patient and her notes saying the family wanted her to be resuscitated.

Dr Qureshi said that he gave the order because resuscitating her "was going to be futile".

"I must say that it was an extremely complex case and that it was an extremely difficult decision for me to make because I was not on site," he told the court.

The court also heard that a junior doctor was bleeped by nurses concerned for her welfare eight hours before Mrs Shinwell's death but that they never turned up, something that Coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray said nurses should have chased up.

Mrs Shinwell died at 3.10am on December 4.

But Colin and Heidi claim they arrived at the hospital at 2.50am having received a call from a member of staff, and were told that Mrs Shinwell was still alive and that she was being taken for chest x-rays at 3.30am.

"We were kept away from her for her last moments," said Heidi after the inquest.

"We were in a room two seconds away. We don't know if she was conscious, if she asked for us, if she was in pain. We don't know anything."

The family also claim that Mrs Shinwell was not read The Last Rites, despite being a Roman Catholic.

The cause of death was originally given as pneumonia but an independent pathologist said that Mrs Shinwell died as a result of heart failure, the inquest heard.

Mrs Beasley-Murray said: "Mrs Shinwell was in the end stage of cardiac failure and her death could have come at any time.

"There should have been communication of the terminal nature of Mrs Shinwell's cardiac failure by medical staff earlier in the admission."

A verdict of natural causes was returned.

Afterwards, Colin told the Chronicle: "It's a complete sham. It is just what we were expecting.

"But if there's another husband, or another wife in my position, I would tell them to never stop asking questions."

THE wife of a man killed in a car crash during the icy weather conditions has paid tribute to her "amazing" husband.

Steve Bint, 59, died after his Ford Mondeo careered off the A12 and smashed into a tree.

The grandfather was driving along the snow-covered northbound carriageway between Kelvedon and Marks Tey last Sunday when the accident happened at 7.05pm.

His wife Sue said: "Steve was an amazing person and a dearly loved husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend to everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.

"Steve believed in 'working to live' and planned to retire this year following 42 years working for the Royal London & FOS.

"He was a huge music and sports fan and loved watching West Ham win and going to quizzes.

"He was the best kind of person anyone could imagine; warm, generous, fun-loving, intelligent and so full of love.

"Steve will be dearly missed by everyone, particularly his wife and two sons."

Police are continuing to appeal for any witnesses of the crash to contact the Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 101 or e-mail collisionappeal@essex. pnn.police.uk

The items taken during the burglary at the Millingtons' home in Conifer Drive, Brentwood:

A gold baby bracelet which is engraved with "Lauren" and "5/10/90"

A nine-carat gold and blue sapphire ring which has three diamonds missing around the circle surrounding the main jewel

A silver Links of London chain worth £150 and six charms worth £50 each (they are a snowflake, a silver duck, a yellow duck, a key with 18 on it, a teddy bear and fairy)

A cabin crew easyJet badge belonging to former air steward Lauren, which was presented to her when she got her "wings"

Grandmother Vera's wedding ring, which was a gold band. Because it was once expanded, it very distinctively has two colours of gold

A gold axe pendant chain which was given to firefighter Garry on his 21st birthday

A selection of watches

A Gucci bracelet with silver balls detail worth £125

A white gold and pearl ring

A pair of Swarovski diamond earrings worth £80

Two jewellery boxes

The latest iPad model with retina display in black, worth £400

A black iPod

A black iPhone 4s

Mr Millington's Dell laptop which had a blue lid, which contained many cherished holiday pictures

A camcorder containing cherished family videos.

£200 cash

A Fender electric guitar

A REWARD of up to £20,000 is being offered for information into the disappearance and murder of a doorman who went missing 15 years ago while visiting his girlfriend's house.

Jimmy Harmon was last seen at around 3pm on Saturday, January 24, 1998, when he visited the property in the Mawney Road area of Romford.

Police suspect his death may have been linked to his time as a bouncer at a number of East London clubs.

Detectives say he was involved in criminal activity and they hope new leads will come to them from the crime underworld.

Mr Harmon was only at his girlfriend's house for a short while when he received a call on his mobile phone, after which he said he had to see a friend in the Rainham area and would return at 8pm.

She never saw him again.

Stocky 5ft 7in Mr Harmon, of Maxey Road, Dagenham, worked at the Robin Hood pub in Longbridge Road, Dagenham, and drove a distinctive silver Mercedes 190E saloon, registration number A872 GBA.

His vehicle, which had lowered suspension and a loud music system, was found abandoned in Bexley Gardens off Barley Lane, near King George's Hospital in Goodmayes.

An extensive investigation has been unable to establish his whereabouts and although his body has never been recovered, it is now presumed that he was murdered.

Detective Chief Inspector Neale Baldock, who is leading the investigation for the Metropolitan Police Service's Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said: "The investigation has focused on Jimmy Harmon's lifestyle and in 1998 he was well known as a doorman at a number of East London clubs and pubs.

"There are very strong grounds for believing that he was murdered very soon after his disappearance on January 24, 1998.

"It is now 15 years since James was last seen alive.

"I know he was involved in criminal activity in East London and I believe the key to this investigation is likely to come from within that criminal fraternity or their associates.

"In the intervening years, loyalties and allegiances may have changed and I would appeal to anyone with new information to come forward and speak to us."

At the time of his disappearance Jimmy was last seen wearing a blue Budweiser T-shirt, tracksuit trousers and trainers.

Call the police on 020 8345 1571 with any information, or if you wish to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

THE Witham parliamentary constituency has survived until at least the next general election after plans to redraw electoral boundaries before 2015 were defeated in the Commons.

MPs voted 334 to 292 to accept changes made by peers, which means the Tory-backed shake-up will take place by 2018 at the earliest.

It was the first time Lib Dem ministers have voted against their coalition partners in the Commons.

The Boundary Commission changes are designed to reduce the size of the House of Commons from 650 to 600 MPs – the smallest number since the 19th century – and even up the size of constituencies to between 72,810 and 80,473 voters.

It would have seen MP Brooks Newmark's Braintree seat merged with the relatively new Witham seat of MP Priti Patel. But Mrs Patel will not automatically be out of a job if she decides to stand for elected office again.

She said: "I supported our proposals and it's generally disappointing that the Liberal Democrats went back on their pledge.

"As for the Labour Party, they were clearly voting to protect their self interests."

Although Mrs Patel said she backed plans to equalise constituency numbers across Britain, she said she was pleased that Witham voters continued to have their political voice.

"The vote means that Essex will continue to have 18 constituencies and not 17. The Witham constituency will remain and, I have to say, I am happy that my constituents will continue to be well represented in the future."

Labour and Lib Dem MPs were joined by smaller parties including the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the DUP, SDLP, Greens and Respect, to defeat the proposals, plus four Tories.

Some believe the proposals, which were backed in 2011 by both coalition parties, would help the Conservatives win up to 20 extra seats at a future election.

But a row over plans to reform the Lords – abandoned in the face of Conservative opposition – led the Lib Dems to say they would block implementation of the boundary review until after the next election, scheduled for 2015.

residents can now report fly-tipping, missed bin collections and noisy neighbours to the council through their mobiles.

As about one third of visitors access Epping Forest District Council's website through their phone, the authority has launched Mobile EFDC.

The portal has been described as "simpler, clearer and faster", and includes links to a "report it" section, as well as "council meetings", "councillor search", "news" and "what's on today".

It will be available to residents across Ongar, North Weald and surrounding areas, and also has a link to Twitter.

Mobile EFDC is part of ongoing improvements to the council's digital services, including a new website which the council claims has reduced annual running costs by £20,000.

Chris Whitbread, leader of Epping Forest District Council, said: "More people are using their mobiles to access the internet so we've developed this mobile version of our website to make access to our online services as easy as possible.

"I am pleased we are now able to bring this improved service to our residents and would urge people to download the app."

Mobile users can also access the site by adding a bookmark or shortcut to their phone browser.

A WOMAN from Hornchurch picked up the keys to a new Volkswagen car after winning the top prize in the Saint Francis Hospice's Winter Raffle.

Diane Cole was all smiles as she was presented with the keys to her new Volkswagen High up! model by the Mayor of Havering, Councillor Lynden Thorpe, at the Inchcape Volkswagen showroom on Colchester Road in Romford on Monday.

The raffle is one of Saint Francis Hospice's main annual fundraising events and this year it raised over £82,000.

Ms Cole said: "A very dear friend, Gordon Sanders, the former headmaster at Ripple Junior School in Barking, was cared for by Saint Francis Hospice before he died from mesothelioma caused by asbestos dust aged just 57.

"Every year I buy a book of tickets in memory of Gordon. Although I've won the top prize, Saint Francis Hospice is the main winner and it's great to know so much money has been raised for their work."

Councillor Thorpe said: "I'd like to thank everyone for supporting this year's raffle. Saint Francis Hospice is such an incredible place that provides so much for the local area.

"Long may they continue."

Esther Preston, marketing manager at Saint Francis Hospice, and the organiser of the raffle, expressed her delight at the amount of money the raffle had raised this year.

She said: "This has been one of our most successful Winter Raffles and it's all thanks to everyone who bought tickets, along with the Pepperell Trust who donated the Volkswagen High up! and Inchcape Volkswagen who supplied it.

"The money raised will go towards helping our teams provide care in the home, inpatient care at the hospice, day care at our centre, together with a full range of therapies and treatments.

Stephen Greenslade, sales manager at Romford's Inchcape Volkswagen, said: "The charity does some amazing work in the area and it's great to be able to play a small part in raising so much money.

"I'd like to congratulate Diane and all the other winners of the hospice's Winter Raffle."

A TENNIS group has scored a £50,000 grant to boost its facilities.

Wickham Bishops Tennis Club is celebrating after learning it has been chosen by Sport England to receive the money as part of the 2012 Olympics legacy programme.

Club chairman Graham Lewis-Taylor said: "We are delighted to have been awarded this investment, which means we can upgrade the quality of our pavilion and progress our development ambitions to provide more tennis for more players, all year round."

The club, which was started up in 1976, has more than 300 members and counts England and Essex cricket star Alastair Cook among its former players.

"The club started with a group in the village joining together to play on private grass courts more than 30 years ago, who decided to make the arrangement a little more formal and ever since it has just grown and grown," said Mr Lewis-Taylor.

The money will enable the club to complete its £100,000 new pavilion, which will be used as a communal area for competitions, tennis education, drinks preparation and equipment storage.

The club has managed to raise the remainder of the costs through membership fees and community events but applied for the grant in August of last year in the hope this would allow the scheme to be finished.

The tennis club is one of 310 projects across England to receive a lottery investment from the third round of the Inspired Facilities fund and one of more than 1,000 to benefit overall, with the milestone being achieved one year ahead of schedule.

Witham MP Priti Patel said: "The club does an outstanding job promoting tennis and with a new pavilion they will be able to do more to encourage local people to take up sport.

"This fantastic new facility means my constituents will benefit from the Olympic legacy."

NOWHERE in the country has suffered more from lazy stereotyping than Essex.

To the uninformed, the county is filled exclusively with footballers' wives, brain-dead reality TV stars and fake tans. A place where Simon Heffer's "young, industrious, mildly brutish and culturally barren" Essex Man stalks the non-descript streets.

But a new programme by the cult documentary maker Jonathan Meades attempts to show the true beauty and importance of a county he says "defies definition".

"In the recent past, nowhere in Britain has suffered these institutionalised lies, blood libels, tribal slanders – these expressions of 'place-ism' or racism – to the extent that Essex has," he says.

In fact, he argues, Essex has a rich social history and rich architectural heritage that goes-beyond the "East End gone a-rovin'" new towns of Basildon and Harlow.

Meades' programme shows us a place that is at once the home of picturesque villages, pre-war modernism, and nineteenth century social experiments.

From brewing magnate Frederick Charrington's Temperance Colony on Osea Island to a Tolstoy-inspired community at Purleigh, Essex was a place where Victorian do-gooders attempted to reform London's outcasts through a programme of fresh air.

Meades also discovers a land which abounds in all strains of modernist and progressive architecture.

From the modernist utopia created by paternalistic shoe giant Thomas Bata in East Tilbury to the "model village" of Silver End built by the Crittall family.

In Burnham-on-Crouch, he visits the 1931-built Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, which was designed to fit seamlessly in with the waterfront.

He also explores the unique architecture of Arthur Mackmurdo, whose work is dotted around Great Totham and Wickham Bishops, including Great Ruffins, a majestic country home.

So while Meades accepts that Essex is, in some ways, a "colony of London" – formed and developed by its proximity to some of the poorest parts of the capital – it offers so much more.

"There is a different Essex, an Essex on the sly – an under the radar Essex," Meades concludes.

Jonathan Meades: The Joy of Essex, aired on Tuesday at 9pm on BBC Four but is available to view on BBC iPlayer until next Tuesday.

A FATHER of nine has been banned from owning horses for five years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid community work after mistreating a five-year-old stallion.

Dereck Boyce, 65, from Rectory Road, Woodham Walter, who was caring for the animal for brother-in-law John O'Leary, pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Magistrates Court to causing unnecessary suffering and failing in his duty to care for the horse, called Little Man.

An RSPCA inspector discovered the maltreatment after following up reports of a "very skinny horse" in Maldon.

Upon arrival, inspector Rosie Russon found Little Man with untreated bleeding wounds to his chest and genitals, an infestation of mites in his feet, and evidence of malnutrition.

Inspector Russon said: "On interviewing his owner, I discovered that, during the previous week, he had been feeling frisky and tried to jump a five bar gate to get to his mare in the next field but failed to clear it.

"He landed with his head underneath him looking backwards and his back legs caught on the other side of the gate.

"Apparently, a member of the public found him stuck and dismantled the five bar gate in order to get him on to his feet again."

However, Mr Boyce failed to treat the injury and kept the animal fenced off with no shelter, bedding or grazing, the court heard on Wednesday.

Little Man's owner, Mr O'Leary, 63, from Muswell Hill, London, was similarly handed a five-year ban and £1,600 fine, and both men were ordered to pay a share of the RSPCA's £2,100 costs, despite O'Leary claiming he had asked Boyce to care for Little Man so that he could be with his 42-year-old daughter Jennifer, who suffers from a brain tumour.

Mr Boyce expressed surprise that the RSPCA were contacted after the incident on May 24 as he was already caring for two horses owned by his wife, as well as dogs and chickens and treated them all equally.

Lorna Glover, representing O'Leary, a retired bricklayer, told the court: "He simply wished to have a hobby – horses had not been part of his life. He cannot read and is not an educated man. He has an impaired understanding. He has not owned horses before and did not appreciate how much care had to be taken, looking after them."

Little Man was subsequently sedated and treated by vets with a tetanus booster, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatories. He has now been rehomed.

Both men expressed their remorse and shame at the incident.

Louise Maples, representing Boyce, said: "He should have inspected the horse more carefully. He accepts there was no actual shelter for the horse, but it was put in stables at night.

He accepts he hasn't gone above and beyond what he should have done. Perhaps there was ignorance in the appropriate care of this animal."

THE man accused of murdering a fellow partygoer after attending the V Festival said he threw the deadly punch because he was standing up for a friend.

Sam Martin, 26, is on trial for the murder of graphic designer Anton Jardin on August 18 last year.

The two men, who had both taken cocaine that night, were at a party at mutual friend's house – Mole Cottage, in Three Mile Hill, Chelmsford.

At Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday, the seventh day of his trial, Martin told the jury that Mr Jardin and Martin's boss, Clint Spearpoint, were arguing in the garden.

"I came out of the bathroom and could hear shouting," he said.

"I looked straight out of the kitchen window and I could see Clint and Anton scuffling against the window. I could hear the men shouting and the girls screaming for it to stop."

When the two men were separated, Martin came out of the kitchen and hit Mr Jardin in the face, the court heard.

"He was side-on and I punched him in the side of the face," said Martin. "It was just a straight punch."

Asked by his defence, William Boyce, if this affected Mr Jardin, Martin said: "It absolutely had an effect on him because I threw the first punch and it connected with the side of his face. As I went to throw the second punch I could see that it wasn't going to go well."

Martin, of Westcliff, said that he was angry with Mr Jardin for arguing with Mr Spearpoint.

"I felt like I was protecting Clint. Standing up for him," he said.

During questioning last week, one witness claimed she saw Martin kicking Mr Jardin in the head, but he denied this.

"I gave him one punch," he said. "I knew that if I threw a punch like that it was going to hurt him but I didn't expect it to go the way it did."

A postmortem examination revealed Mr Jardin died as a result of a tear to the vertebral artery, caused by a fast rotation of the head.

Mr Boyce continued: "When Anton Jardin fell to the floor, is that something you expected?"

"I thought it was weird he fell towards me," said Martin. "I thought he might have gone backwards from the punch.

"He was breathing and then 10 or 20 seconds later he started making a growling noise and then his jaw locked up. I thought he was choking on his tongue from the noise he was making."

Martin told that Mr Jardin's mouth was full of blood and how he started to go blue.

"I was rubbing my hand on his chest over his heart. To be honest I didn't know what I was doing, I was just trying to help him," he said.

Mr Jardin was declared dead at the scene just after midnight and Martin was arrested on suspicion of murder along with Clint Spearpoint, who later had all charges against him dropped.

To begin with Martin denied being involved in the assault.

"I had just been told what had happened about what I had done. He was pronounced dead while I was still there. I was in shock. I was scared," said Martin, with tears running down his face.

"Yes I lied. I was scared. I knew I was to blame. Anton had died and I knew it was my fault."

The trial continues.

IT TOOK nine firefighters and a small yellow dinghy to rescue two workers stranded in just one foot of water.

Window fitters Michael Goldhawk and his colleague, called Josh, were left marooned when the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation flooded near to Paper Mill Lock in Little Baddow on Monday morning.

The workers, from Norwich-based Anglia First Home Improvements, were on their way to a job when they attempted to drive their Renault van through the murky water.

But they said they were soon hit by a three foot wall of water after the nearby canal overflowed, shortly after 9am.

"They asked permission to drive through it," said their boss, installation manager Kyle Huggins. "But as soon as they did the banks burst and they were stranded . They told me the water nearly knocked the van over."

They called the fire service, and within an hour nine fire fighters and a team from the Urban Search and Rescue unit were towing the embarrassed men to safety.

Now the pair are the talk of the office and have been on the receiving end of some gentle work-place ribbing. "They caused quite a kerfuffle," said Mr Huggins. "But the directors think it's quite funny.

"They are really decent blokes but, I suppose, we're all wondering why they didn't just get out and walk."

The flooding was caused by weekend rainfall and rapidly melting snow.

By mid-morning on Sunday the Environment Agency had issued 90 flood warnings for east and south-east England.

Essex Fire and Rescue Divisional Officer Neil Fenwick said: "It is astonishing just how many motorists have driven their car into flood water and need our help to get themselves, and often their families, out of their predicament. It happens every time there is flooding.

"When faced with water, drivers should exercise a little common sense. If they can, they should find an alternative route. If there is no way round they should park safely, get out and check the depth of the water before they drive into it.

"Just driving into water and hoping for the best is not an option. By the time you find out the water is too deep you are already trapped."

He said that just two feet of water was enough to float a car and that six inches would reach the underside of most family cars.

And, he added, drivers should never attempt to drive through water deeper than the centre of their wheels.

"If water gets into the car's air intake or into the electrics the car will stop, leaving the driver and passengers trapped," he said.

HRH The Princess Royal will visit Chelmsford today for a special service to mark the 60th anniversary of the Great Flood.

The service will be held at Chelmsford Cathedral and will even include a reading from her.

It is the second time Princess Anne has visited Chelmsford since it was granted city status by the Queen last March.

The leader of Essex County Council, Cllr Peter Martin, will welcome the princess alongside council chairman Cllr Kay Twitchen.

The service will be a private event, bringing together dignitaries and representatives from across Essex, including survivors of the floods.

After the hour-long service, Princess Anne will be escorted to Evoke nightclub, in Market Road, where she will meet ten different groups from the community who have been affected by the floods.

Cllr Martin said: "It is an honour to know that a member of the Royal Family will be joining us for this very special service."

On the evening of January 31, 1953, England was struck by some of the most severe flooding from the North Sea ever recorded. In total 307 people died, 24,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and more than 30,000 people were evacuated.

THIS was a fine and fully deserved away win for Braintree and was just the tonic for absent manager Alan Devonshire who was forced to miss his first game of the season ill in bed.

Devonshire though would have been delighted by the way his troops responded playing some good football, dominating most of the game and scoring two outstanding goals.

With skipper Kenny Davis, celebrating his latest call-up to the England C squad, putting in a strong performance in midfield and central defender Dean Wells capping another outstanding game with a 67 minute wonder goal from a 60-yard free-kick, the Iron never looked in any danger of not returning home with all three points.

Also impressive was on loan striker Dan Walker, the 22-year-old from Luton Town making his full debut for the Iron, who deputised for the absent Sean Marks and was unlucky not to find his name on the score sheet.

Iron assistant Keith Rowlands said: "It was a fantastic all round team effort and the players were tremendous bearing in mind they hadn't played for a fortnight.

"We deserved to win and we kept pressing them right from the start and everyone really worked hard.

"Dean's goal was outstanding, particularly at this level, and Dan Holman scored an excellent goal which we know he's capable of doing.

"Dan Walker also did well coming into the side and the only disappointment was the way in which we conceded the two goals and we need to put that right."

Admittedly the Iron took the lead with a fortunate goal on 16 minutes when home keeper Ben McNamara failed to deal with a cross properly and his defenders struggled to clear the ball. James Mulley was on hand to head the ball home from close range.

The home side retaliated and created a couple of good openings with Wells having to kick the ball off the Iron goalline with keeper Nathan McDonald beaten.

They did equalise on 41 minutes which was down to poor defending from a corner as Braintree allowed Simon Forsdick, the smallest player in the home side, to glance a header past the stranded McDonald.

The second half though saw the Iron really take control of the game going back in to the lead on 48 minutes with a fine goal from Holman.

He chased a long ball, catching the home defence out in the process, before driving a great shot past McNamara to score a great solo goal.

When Wells had driven his free-kick over the head of the despairing McNamara just past the hour it looked like game over.

But four minutes later slack Iron defending allowed Delroy Gordon to head home from a corner.

Any hope they might stage a late revival was swiftly rebutted when substitute Bradley Dack proved how quick he is, reacting sharply to a partial save by McNamara from a Holman shot to score from close range.

The final scoreline was a true reflection of the game and again shows the Iron this season play better away from home, this their sixth away victory.

FIFTEEN thousand fishermen converged on Brentwood for the biggest carp show in the country.

The Brentwood Centre, in Doddinghurst Road, hosted the annual angling extravaganza on Saturday and Sunday.

Paul Gay, 45, is a council worker but was giving up his weekend to work at the fishing enthusiasts' event.

"I couldn't imagine life without fishing," he told the Gazette.

"Everybody's different but the reason I love it is because it's the ones you can't catch that keep you going back again."

Mr Gay's three-year-old son Daniel is also keen on carp fishing.

"He loves it," said Mr Gay.

"I lived in France for two years so he was brought up next to a fishing lake.

"He says, 'I want fish!'"

Hundreds of stallholders from all over the UK gathered at the venue to offer the latest in carp-fishing equipment including rods, nets, camping gear and baits.

David Greenland from Chelmsford runs Just Carping, a retail outlet for the international company Starbaits.

The 39-year-old said that the heaviest carp he has caught weighed 70lb.

"You just kiss it and put it back," he said.

"Carp are big, they are supposed to be beautiful – and everybody wants to catch them.

"The thing is they could be 40 years old and they are very wily. "People think it's like a hunter, cavemannish thing to do.

"We like the Brentwood show because it's central and people come from pretty much everywhere."

Coach loads came from as far away as Manchester for the event, but locals were also making the most of it being on their doorstep.

Sean Eady, 32, from South Ockendon, joined his friends Glynn Bray and Adam Newton for a day out at the show.

He said: "We don't usually get to see a show, so it's a chance for us to catch up as well.

"We fish all over Essex and abroad."

Chris Ives, 27, from Brentwood, also came to the show with friends "just to get cheap gear, really".

Along with his brother, Tim, and their friends, Chris goes to France once a year, where the carp are generally bigger due to the warmer weather, which means they can feed for more of the year.

But while the majority of shoppers were male – "There's probably for every 300 men one woman," said Mr Gay – Faye Clay was there with her son Max and two of his friends.

"We usually all go together," she said.

"I love it. It's so relaxing – and I concentrate on setting all of their rods up really."

Max's friend Harvey O'Sullivan, nine, once caught a 22lb carp – his heaviest yet.

He said: "I enjoy it because it means we can catch big fish and because it's dangerous."

A HEATED debate turned sour after Tory administration members walked out of a council meeting, leaving opposition councillors to continue by themselves.

Phil Mynott, (Brentwood North) had asked the Brentwood Borough Council environment committee last night, Wednesday, if he could debate the practicality of transporting grit bags across the borough.

The request came after a lengthy and *****ly debate on several issues relating to recycling and rubbish collection.

But instead chairman Tony Sleep and his Tory colleagues walked out without actually having called an end to the meeting.

One opposition member said: "The Lib Dem's Karen Chilvers took the chair and we carried on regardless.

"We could have voted for all sorts of things, without the Tories there, but we didn't.

"We were very sensible about it all."