Essex's Westley to make England debutpublished at 18:01 British Summer Time 20 July 2017Breaking
Essex batsman Tom Westley will make his England debut in the third Test against South Africa, while Dawid Malan is also called up.
Read MoreSummary
Updates on Friday, 21 July 2017
'Moving film' Dunkirk features Essex fish boat
Jobs could be saved after Witham factory bought
Severe accident: M25 Essex clockwise
Holiday flights from Stansted Airport
Essex's Westley to make England debutpublished at 18:01 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Weather: A dry nightpublished at 17:24 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Alex Dolan
BBC Look East weatherA fine end to the day with some late sunshine across the BBC East region.
It'll stay dry overnight with temperatures dropping to 9C (48F).
Tomorrow will be fine and dry, with sunny spells. Cloud will increase later, with outbreaks of rain overnight, heavy at times.
Temperatures reaching 22C (72F).
You can find a more detailed forecast on BBC Weather.
New trans-Atlantic flights for Stanstedpublished at 14:23 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Stuart Bailey
BBC NewsA Danish airline is opening a base at Stansted Airport and will run direct flights to New York and Boston.
The new services from Primera Air will begin in April 2018, and the company says it will announce another trans-Atlantic route by the end of the summer.
Image source, Getty ImagesStansted's chief executive Andrew Cowan said: "We know from our customers that there is enormous demand for flights to New York and Boston from London and the east of England, so the arrival of Primera Air is fantastic news for both business and leisure passengers."
Your pictures: Cloudy skiespublished at 13:51 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
OK, so this morning looked more like November than July, but our BBC Weather Watchers have been making the most of it by capturing some moody shots of the county:
Plans to 'downgrade' two A&E units scrappedpublished at 13:00 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Stuart Bailey
BBC NewsHealth bosses in Essex have decided not to go ahead with plans which campaigners argued would downgrade two accident and emergency departments.
They were thinking about turning Basildon into a specialist A&E centre, redirecting ambulances which would previously have gone to Broomfield and Southend hospitals.
Under a revised plan, all three hospitals would keep their A&E departments - with patients being taken to their nearest - but would each offer a wider range of specialist treatments.
Image source, PAAt the moment some patients are transferred to the relevant specialist centre - for example, those with severe burns go to Broomfield - and doctors are now looking at whether this can be expanded to cover more medical conditions.
Clare Panniker, chief executive of Basildon, Broomfield and Southend Hospitals, said: "We have discussed with staff and local people the benefits of one hospital, possibly Basildon, providing the most serious emergency treatment.
"But, in the feedback from over 100 local discussion events, we have heard very clearly that some people have significant concerns about all ‘blue light’ ambulances going straight to Basildon.
"We have been thinking how we could address these concerns, and still improve patient care with different specialist teams across our three hospital sites and the separation of planned and emergency care."
A12 fully reopens after early morning crashpublished at 12:03 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Stuart Bailey
BBC NewsSome good news after this morning's crash on the southbound A12 near Chelmsford.
One lane was closed at about 05:45 - causing delays of up to two hours - but has now reopened.
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End of twitter postMan arrested after A12 crashpublished at 10:47 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Stuart Bailey
BBC NewsA man has been arrested after a crash on the A12 near Chelmsford this morning resulted in "severe delays" of up to two hours.
A Nissan Terrano, which was towing a caravan, overturned on the southbound carriageway between junctions 17 and 18, at about 05:45.
A large amount of oil leaked from the car and spread across the road, and one lane is still closed for cleaning.
Essex Police said a 49-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of driving a car while unfit through drink or drugs, careless driving and failing to stop.
He's been taken to hospital in Chelmsford with minor injuries.
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End of twitter postT20 Blast cricket: Fourth defeat for Essexpublished at 09:55 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Glenn Speller
BBC Essex sportA fourth defeat from five games has left Essex with a mountain to climb if they're to qualify for the quarter-finals of the T20 Blast.
They lost by 10 runs to Surrey at The Oval last night.
Kevin Pietersen (pictured) made a half century for the home side and Essex failed to chase down their victory target of 151, falling short on 140-7.
They host Hampshire tomorrow night.
Image source, Rex FeaturesCouple reach settlement with hospitals over baby deathspublished at 09:08 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Stuart Bailey
BBC NewsA couple whose twin babies died have said it should never have taken five years for three hospitals to agree compensation.
Elizabeth and Jon Dunks' two daughters were delivered by caesarean section 27 weeks into the pregnancy.
Prior to that, Mrs Dunks raised concerns her waters had broken but they were dismissed by medical experts at Basildon, Southend and Kings College Hospitals.
Babies Eliza and Beth died when their life support machines were turned off at just six days old in 2012.
Their case has just been settled at the High Court.
But Mrs Dunks said it didn't need to get to that stage: "Waiting two years extra when they had all the evidence they had - to go to the Royal Courts of Justice in London and to put our family through going there as witnesses - it was extremely stressful.
"I could have had IVF in that time. Two years ago could have made a tremendous amount of difference for me to try and get pregnant again."
Image source, Family photoIn a joint statement, the hospitals said: "The terms of the settlement are confidential to the parties and it would be inappropriate to comment in any detail.
"The claim has been compromised with no admissions of liability at a significant discount in respect of damages and legal costs to reflect the uncertainties for both sides in presenting their cases to the court.
"We would like to express our sincere sympathy to Mrs Dunks and her family. The death of loved ones is a cause of great sadness in any circumstance."
Phone charger fire warningpublished at 08:26 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Stuart Bailey
BBC NewsThis is the aftermath of a fire at a house, which was caused by a phone charger bought online.
Martin Warner, who was at his home in Billericay at the time of the fire on Tuesday, said: "The smoke alarm went off and I noticed a smell.
"I ran up the stairs and my son's bedroom was on fire - there were about six or seven fires dotted around the room."
The charger was bought for £15 on Amazon, which says it's investigating and is trying to contact the manufacturer.
Neil Fenwick, head of community safety at Essex Fire Service, said: "Chargers should have a 'CE' mark which indicates they comply with European standards.
"If a product is running hot or showing signs of scorching, stop using it.
"Don't overload sockets and don't charge things overnight."
Thursday's weather: Continuing unsettledpublished at 08:05 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Georgina Burnett
BBC WeatherIt's fairly cloudy this morning with some showers as well, fairly heavy at times, perhaps thundery.
They'll be moving off to the north east, taking most of the cloud with them. The further west you are, the more chance you've got of seeing some sunny spells by the end of the day.
Temperatures up to about 19C (66F).
Watch my full forecast for the BBC Eastern region here:
Good morningpublished at 08:00 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Stuart Bailey
BBC NewsHello and welcome to Thursday's live updates for Essex on 20 July.
We'll be here until 18:00 with the latest news, sport, travel and weather.
It's been a cloudy and damp start for many of us - a full forecast is coming up shortly.
You can get in touch at any time via email, Facebook , externalor Twitter, external.
Pietersen hits 52 as Surrey beat Essexpublished at 22:35 British Summer Time 19 July 2017
Kevin Pietersen marks his return for Surrey with 52 to help them beat Essex by 10 runs in the T20 Blast
Read MoreLightning strike 'like a bomb going off'published at 19:26 British Summer Time 19 July 2017
Lightning storms across the East of England destroy one man's home and cause travel chaos.
Read MoreSchool cuts teaching by an hour a weekpublished at 19:21 British Summer Time 19 July 2017
Head teacher Joe Wincott says cutting teaching hours is the only way to balance his budget.
Read MoreOur live coverage through the daypublished at 17:59 British Summer Time 19 July 2017
Orla Moore
BBC Local LiveThat's it for our live coverage for today - thanks for your company.
We'll be back to do it all again from 08:00 tomorrow.
Don't forget, you can still keep in touch - just hit the Get Involved tab at the top of the feed.
In the meantime, scroll down to see if you've missed anything happening in the county today.
Have a lovely evening.
Flat roof set ablaze by lightning strikepublished at 17:55 British Summer Time 19 July 2017
The owner of the flat said he had a lucky escape, but lost a railway set he had spent 25 years collecting.
Read MorePatient transport services: vulnerable patients 'are priority'published at 16:42 British Summer Time 19 July 2017
As we told you earlier, the East of England Ambulance Service, external (EEAS) has apologised to a Great Sampford pensioner over delays to his transport to hospital for dialysis treatment.
However, Jonathan Fox, a former Stansted-based paramedic with 30 years' experience, says vulnerable patients like Mr Dean should be given priority.
"It's very important to draw the distinction between the emergency service - and the patient transport service - which has responsibility for this kind of journey," he told BBC Essex.
"The website clearly sets out objectives to provide a 'timely, comfortable service' suitable for the needs of the patient.
"Clearly those objectives haven't been met."
We told you how Mr Dean, 79, is often left waiting for hours for his transport to arrive, often missing meals because he's home so late.
He has to travel three times a week to Cambridge for kidney dialysis.
"They need to ensure those with the most complex needs get a reliable service - and they're not made more stressed by the hjourney - or the lack of it," said Mr Fox.
Police in Harlow hunt masked and armed burglarspublished at 15:52 British Summer Time 19 July 2017
Orla Moore
BBC Local Live
Image source, GooglePolice , externalare hunting two masked burglars who forced their way into a house in Harlow armed with a gun and a knife.
It happened last night at about 23:15 in Glebelands, in Harlow.
The two suspects wore ski masks and stole £500 from a woman inside the house.
Police are treating the aggravated burglary as an isolated incident.
How the thunder and lightning made its way over Essex ...published at 15:44 British Summer Time 19 July 2017
Orla Moore
BBC Local LiveThere were 26,000 lightning strikes across the East last night.
Here's how the thunderstorms swept over Essex ...
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