A man trapped in a ditch for an hour after a "terrifying" carjacking was assaulted by three men impersonating police officers.

A search is under way for three robbers after an armed raid at a Co-op store in Silver End, near Witham. 

Image source, Google

Three men carrying a hammer and a pole pushed staff to the floor and demanded money, before fleeing with a four-figure sum last night. 

A boy, 17, was arrested. Detectives have been trying to establish if the robbery was linked to several others in the area. 

A £1m lottery prize is still waiting to be claimed nearly two-and-half weeks after the winning ticket was bought in the Basildon area.

The mystery winner is being asked to claim their prize from Saturday 7 January draw so they can enjoy their seven-figure spoils.

The jackpot ticket has the code AQUA 4351 1168 and must be claimed by 6 July.

But the countdown is on for anyone who believes they had the winning raffle ticket but has since lost it: they must write to organisers Camelot by 4 February.

Andy Carter, from The National Lottery, external, said: "We’re urging everyone who bought a Lotto ticket in this area to check their old tickets again or look anywhere a missing ticket could be hiding."

Essex Police, external has issued descriptions of three police imposters who pushed a van driver down a ditch, trapping him there with a fractured ankle, in a "terrifying" ordeal in Epping yesterday.

Image source, Google

The first suspect is described as white, slim, about 5ft 10ins (1.77m) or 5ft 11ins (1.8m) tall and in his mid-30s. 

He wore a black baseball hat or cap, a long-sleeved black top with black and white checks which illuminated and a chunky belt with items on it. He spoke with a slight Northern accent.

The second man was white, over 6ft tall (1.82m), of large build with a chubby face and in his early to mid-30s. He wore a black baseball hat or cap and a yellow high-visibility jacket with black and white checks, which illuminated.

The third suspect was also white and wore dark clothing with a black baseball cap or hat.

More on the van driver left trapped in an Epping ditch with a fractured ankle by a gang of thieves pretending to be police officers.

Essex Police, external said the victim, in his 50s, was rescued after more than an hour after his cries for help were heard by someone working nearby.

The victim was handcuffed after being forced to pull his Ford Transit van over on Vicarage Lane West yesterday afternoon. He was then marched to nearby woods when the three-strong gang pushed him down a ditch.

Det Sgt Eileen Mullins urged anyone with information to get in touch. 

She said: "Fortunately his cries for help were heard by a person working nearby and they called the emergency services for assistance.

"The victim has received hospital treatment for his injuries and has been left shocked."

A gang of thieves posing as policemen left a man trapped down a ditch with a fractured ankle for more than an hour and made off with his van in a "terrifying" ordeal, police have said, external.

Image source, Google

The victim was driving his van in Epping on Monday when a silver BMW estate pulled in front with flashing blue lights, forcing him to pull over.

The man, in his 50s, got out of his van and was then handcuffed and walked into some woods before being pushed down a ditch, fracturing his ankle.

He was driving along Vicarage Lane West at about 03:30 when the three attackers targeted him in his Ford Transit Luton van shouting. 'Police! Get out of the vehicle'.

The gang fled with the van, which has the registration number BW65 LTA and branded with the Alleycat car and van rental company logo.

Det Sgt Eileen Mullins said: "This was particularly terrifying ordeal for the victim because he remained trapped in the ditch for over an hour with a fractured ankle."

The county's MPs have been responding to the Supreme Court ruling this morning that Parliament must give the go-ahead to the government to start any formal Brexit talks and trigger Article 50.

A case against a former football commentator at Norwich City accused of sexual grooming has been dropped.

Glenn Wheeler, 21, of Colchester, had been accused of the grooming offences in Norfolk between April and October last year.

Norwich City said Mr Wheeler was an unpaid volunteer who was never employed by the club and was only paid expenses.

Mr Wheeler was due to appear at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday for a pre-trial hearing, but the case against him has been discontinued.

Chris Goreham
BBC Radio Norfolk sport

Wroxham's match at Heybridge Swifts, which was due to take place tonight, has been called off. 

The pitch is frozen. 

Wroxham are one place off the bottom of Ryman One North. Heybridge are three places and 10 points above them. 

Jessica Naya, whose husband Chris was left in a coma after being attacked in a Chelmsford park on a night out, has said his attacker must be found.

Mrs Naya said her husband, 35, is still in hospital and spent two weeks in a coma after being attacked three days before Christmas, forcing him to miss out on the festivities with his children at their Manningtree home.

She said: "He’s angry that this has happened because there’s no reason why. He’s a lovely man.

"Chris will still be in the position he is but... please say something if [you've] seen something, heard something because it might just make a difference. 

"No child should be asking the questions that Chris’s children ask."

Mr Naya's Samsung Galaxy S4 mobile phone is also believed to still be missing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Essex Police, external.

The wife of a man left in a two-week coma after being brutally attacked in a Chelmsford park has said the family will never recover from what happened.

Image source, Essex Police

Chris Naya, 35, of Manningtree, had been out with colleagues when he was hit over the head in Central Park in December.

He remains in hospital as he had to have part of his skull removed after being airlifted to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

His wife Jessica said:"He does have brain damage… so sometimes he remembers things and sometimes he doesn’t. They’ve told us it could be up to a year before we know the extent of the injury." 

"He won’t ever been the same so our lives changed that night."

The wife of a man viciously attacked in a Chelmsford park a month ago has been appealing for witnesses while her husband remains in hospital.

Jessica Naya has said the family "needs help" to find her husband Chris's attacker.

BBC Weather Watchers

There's fog and mist across the region, but it's lifting in many places.

London Stansted Airport is not reporting any problems and this BBC Weather Watchers photo taken near the coast shows the mist is not so thick. 

Image source, .

East Anglian Daily Times

Suspended prison term for 'cruel and spiteful' man - the front page of the Essex edition of the East Anglian Daily Times, external today:

Image source, EADT

Andrew Woodger
BBC News

Former Southend United reporter for the Echo, Bernie Friend, says he doesn't see how a groundsman could prevent the pitch freezing when it does not have undersoil heating.

Groundsman Ken Hare has been sacked after 27 years following the postponement of Saturday's game due to a frozen pitch.  

"Unless he had the skills and vision of a Michael Fish to know exactly what was going to happen with the weather (*), and some way of getting under the ground and heating it and stopping it getting frozen, I don't see how," he said.

Mr Friend added: "I've been to games where I've travelled all the way to Plymouth and the game's been called off when I've got there. These things happen."

* We'll gloss over the former BBC weatherman's infamous declaration in 1987 that a hurricane wasn't on the way.

Photographer Ed Gold spends a day in the life of a Pole working in a UK hospital.

Ben Fryer
BBC Essex sport

Southend United are being widely criticised for their decision to sack their head groundsman of 27 years following Saturday’s postponed match with Bolton Wanderers, and until they release more information regarding his departure they will continue to be. 

With the little information we have so far, it appears Ken Hare was dismissed for the Roots Hall pitch being frozen, which is something he couldn’t have done much about. 

Matches at nearby Leyton Orient and Dagenham & Redbridge were postponed for the same reason.

The Institute of Groundsmanship, external, the body that represents groundsmen, says obtaining the necessary information is now an "urgent priority", and it may also be in the club’s best interests to release this to prevent this becoming even more of a public relations disaster. 

A Bolton Wanderers fan has started a petition to get Southend United's groundsman re-instated.

Hundreds of Bolton fans had to turn back after Saturday's match at Roots Hall was postponed due to a frozen pitch.

Ken Hare was then dismissed as groundsman.

Image source, www.change.org

Daniel Welton started the petition on Change.com, external which he intends to deliver to Southend when it gets 500 signatures. It had 209 at the time of writing.

The petition speculates that "Ken Hare, has since been sacked after 27 years in the job for what was probably a simple error of judgement.

"We Bolton fans are disgusted with this and want to work together to get him his job back. It is always disappointing when a match is postponed but he does not deserve to lose his job."

Colchester United reject a bid for Brennan Dickenson from Championship side Ipswich Town, reports BBC Essex.