Southend United said they will check on the fitness of Jason Demetriou at training today. The full-back missed Tuesday's win at Coventry.

Image source, Getty Images

But Adam Thompson and Simon Cox are both expected to be available for the League One match with Walsall on Saturday. 

Colchester United are waiting to see if they can include Richard Brindley in their squad to travel to Crewe in League Two. The defender has been out for two weeks with a calf muscle injury.

Proposals to expand the entrance to Southend Pier have been submitted to local planners.

Image source, Google

Southend Council, external , which owns the pier, has earmarked £300,000 in its budget for the scheme which would see the pier entrance re-modelled to provide space for exhibitions, refreshments and ice creams.

If approved it is hoped the re-design will take place later this year. 

The council has said it would offer a much more attractive, modern and larger entrance to the pier, helping to attract more visitors to the seafront and the iconic landmark.

Councillor Ann Holland said: "By proposing these improvements, which would be part of a continued and multi-million pound investment in the pier, we hope to make the entrance more attractive and appealing to visitors, and help develop a sustainable income for years to come."

Jozef Hall
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

Earlier this week, you may remember we mentioned that you, humble taxpayers, are still paying for the regional fire control centre that never was .

The Waterbeach headquarters would have answered all emergency fire calls from Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Hertfordshire and north Essex.

However, the project was  abandoned in 2010  after the coalition government determined the "requirements of the project cannot be delivered to an acceptable timeframe".

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) initially refused to comment on why it had failed to let the building.

However, we've now finally got a breakdown of exactly how our money is being used to support this ongoing venture.

The total costs in 2015-16 were:

• Rent (net): £1,384,903.36
• Rates: £49,296.33
• Service charge: £17,268.76
• Water: £246.78
• Electricity: £25,605.73
• Fixed Maintenance: £200,227.33
• Reactive Maintenance: £1,166.57

Total: £1,678,714.86 = £4,599 a day

Yep, going on for £2m a year.

Image source, Thinkstock

We asked the DCLG to comment on the figures. We especially wanted to know why £26,000 of electricity was being used each year when no-one was there, but they wouldn't. 

With another 14 years left on the lease, the final spend will dwarf the millions spent so far on a service which has never been used. 

White elephant? You decide...

Two people have been charged in connection with a road crash last year in which a Leicestershire woman died.A Nissan Note car and a HGV were involved in a collision on the M25 at Waltham Abbey on 29 March.

Laura Cooper, 34, who was one of the passengers in the car, died in hospital on 2 April.

Meanwhile another passenger in the Nissan, a 17-year-old girl from London, was injured.A 62-year-old HGV driver from Telford was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.A 32-year old woman from south-east London was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving while with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit.Both are due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on 12 April.  

Essex Police have released images of people they'd like to speak to who might have information about a shooting in Brentwood. 

There are a lot of them...

Image source, Essex Police

A 31-year-old was injured after a boxing event at the Brentwood Centre on Doddinghurst Road at about midnight on Saturday, 18 February.

Police want to hear from anyone in the crowd who may have useful information.

Image source, Essex Police

 A 32-year-old man is currently on police bail having been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

Image source, Essex Police

Investigators have also released photos of specific individuals they would like to talk to:

Image source, Essex Police

Det Ch Insp Stephen Jennings said: "Although we have made an arrest... we are releasing a number of photographs of people who were attending a boxing event at the venue that evening, who might have seen what happened or have vital information.

"We would also ask their friends or relatives to let us know who they are so that they can be eliminated from our inquiries."Any piece of information, however small you may think it is, could help our investigation."

Essex Fire Service's animal rescue unit have helped remove a horse from a ditch in Jaywick. 

The horse's hind legs were stuck in silt and sludge and its head was just above the water level in the ditch near Aragon Close.

Image source, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service

A vet was called to sedate the horse and the owner and a farmer held the horse’s head out of the water.

Meanwhile, crews used strops and ropes which they attached to the horse and a tractor and pulled it from the ditch.

When crews left the site, the horse was "comfortable and grazing again".

Essex Police, external  say they want to speak to children who were with a boy at a time of a road crash in Saffron Walden which left the five-year-old seriously injured.The boy suffered life-threatening injuries on Wednesday after being hit by a Renault Megane, which also hit a house in Gabriel Street. 

Image source, Saffron Walden Fire

An air ambulance attended the scene and the boy was flown to Addenbrooke's Hospital where he is in a "critical but stable" condition. 

The driver - who police believe was a learner - and the passenger of the car have been voluntarily interviewed by officers. 

However, they say they are keen to speak to any of the children who were with the boy at the time who have not already spoken to police.

Image source, Saffron Walden Fire

Arena-sized rock band Kasabian have announced an eight-date UK and Eire tour of smaller "intimate" venues ahead of their headline festival slots at Reading/Leeds.

The Leicester band visit Southend's Cliffs Pavilion on Sunday 16 April.

Tickets aren't on general sale yet and to be in with a chance of successfully buying early-bird tickets, you've got to pre-order their new album, external .

The tour also takes in Llandudno, Newport (the Welsh one), Birmingham, Dublin and three nights at The Forum in London.

Braintree Town have agreed a loan deal for Millwall centre back Christian Mbulu to run until mid-April.

Essex Fire Service has said a toy's charger, which was in use, was to blame for a blaze in a bedroom of a property in Leigh-on-Sea last night.

Firefighters were called to a three-storey property in Woodside just past 18:00.

No-one was hurt, but the bedroom has been badly damaged. 

A temporary library is being opened in East Tilbury after its permanent facility was damaged in a recent fire. 

The blaze, which was started deliberately when a car was driven into the building, happened two months ago  (pictured).

The new library is being set up in the East Tilbury Village Hall each Thursday and Friday, and is using books donated by local people. 

A mother-of-two from Shenfield has demanded a personal apology from Chelmsford City Council, external after waiting for almost an hour to exit a local car park.

Image source, Google

Sophie Mather said the queues to leave the Meadows surface car park were so long that she had to pay more on her ticket.

She was forced to leave the car at the barrier and take her three-year-old son to the nearest pay station.

Chelmsford City Council has apologised saying that faulty barriers were to blame. It says it's contacted the supplier to ensure a similar fault can't happen again.

Planning enforcement officers have said they are  frustrated by the speed at which they can remove a group of people from an unauthorised travellers site near Basildon.

Image source, Google

Basildon Borough Council, external said its bailiffs visited the site near Hovefields Avenue in Wickford on Thursday as part of an ongoing investigation into the breach of a High Court injunction.

Officers said they served notices on two individuals who were there.

The authority's deputy leader, Conservative councillor Kevin Blake, says he's "frustrated" that he can't speed up the process to restore the land to its green-belt status.

Earlier this month, some local residents said they were concerned that the site  could turn into another Dale Farm , which was Europe's largest traveller encampment until it was shut down in 2011. 

Mariam Issimdar
BBC News

Highways England say about 900 people have shared their views on plans to widen the A12 in Essex as part of a public consultation which closed recently.

Image source, Highways England

Before the consultation closed at the beginning of this month, 679 had responded online, 65 had sent e-mails registering their feedback and around 150 had posted responses.

Highways England plans to widen the A12 between junction 19 (Boreham interchange) and junction 25 (Marks Tey interchange), which aims to reduce congestion, improve safety and boost the economy.

The government agency says 89% of respondents at the public events were positive about the proposals which were held alongside Essex County Council’s consultation into its nine options for a new A120 route between Braintree and Colchester.

Work on the A12 is due to begin in 2020. 

Elizabeth Rizzini
BBC Look East weather

A cool end to the working week, with the best of any sunshine this morning.

Turning cloudy, but staying dry, with freshening winds.

Temperatures reaching a high of 11C (52F).

BBC Weather has more details for where you live.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

Good morning and welcome to another day of live updates from Essex.

We'll be here from now until 18:00 bringing you the very latest news, sport, weather and travel.

First up, a full regional weather forecast... 

BBC Weather

This evening will turn increasingly cloudy from the west of the BBC East region.

Image source, BBC Weather

Staying mostly dry, but with some showers developing later and moving through overnight. 

A chilly start to Friday but with some sunshine and highs of 11C (52F).

BBC Weather  has more details for where you are.

Mariam Issimdar
BBC News

That's it folks. Been a busy old day in lovely Essex. Do scroll back and see what's been happening.

Among the stories we've covered today: 

• An arsonist who killed a pregnant woman and her baby has been detained under the mental health act
• Harlow's A&E hospital has been declared ' not fit for purpose ' by by the town's deputy council leader
• Family and friends of 19-year-old Denis Petkov, who was fatally stabbed in Rettendon on Saturday night, say they've now raised enough money to take his body back home to Bulgaria
• And Southend is considering introducing 'Boris-style' bikes this summer

Nick Alliker
BBC Essex

Southend is considering introducing a bike rental scheme in the town for the summer season. 

The town council is planning to run four hire stations near the civic centre and three at City Beach and Marine Parade.

Bicycles similar to London's "Boris bikes" would be available with people paying a fee to unlock them before returning them to a station. 

Southend has an eight-mile esplanade which is fairly flat.    

Image source, Getty Images

Nikki Jenkins
BBC Local Live

A five-year-old boy is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after colliding with a car.

The car went on to plough into a house in Gabriel Street in Saffron Walden. 

The boy was taken by air ambulance to  Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

The driver and passenger of the vehicle have been voluntarily interviewed by police and inquiries are continuing. 

Witnesses are asked to contact the  Serious Collision Investigation Unit, external  on 101.