FAMILIES could be living in new homes this summer after contractors were chosen to build the borough s first council houses in more than 25 years. Mansell Partnership Housing will construct 31 three and four bedroom houses on the former Lintons site, Bar... » MORE
A £26MILLION bus route linking Barking and Dagenham Docks every six minutes has begun and is expected to ferry six million passengers a year. The new East London Transit (ELT) will also act as a catalyst to woo the first families to the 10,000-home, £1.... » MORE
COUNCIL tax will be frozen for the second year in a row but many residents will face a hike in rent, fees and charges. There will be an annual rise in tenant service charges of £10.92, heating and hot water will increase by £63.22 a year and garage rent w... » MORE
MADE in Dagenham, the star-studded film being made of the Ford factory women s fight for equal pay, will be released in cinemas on October 1. Paramount Pictures UK made the announcement last week. The comedy-drama, which went under the working title of We... » MORE
THE Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, has caved in to public demands and scrapped plans for a 1,500-inmate prison in Dagenham. There was a public outcry in April when proposals for the category B jail to be built at Beam Park West were announced. Labour MP f... » MORE
TOWN HALL chiefs are demanding the government review its legislation after the appalling state of the borough s council housing was highlighted on national television. In Tower Block of Commons, being aired on Channel 4 on Mondays, Liberal Democrat MP Mar... » MORE
ALCOHOL-fuelled fights and drunken accidents are responsible for thousands of hospital admissions each year with Barking and Dagenham having a higher number than most other boroughs. Findings published last week by the London Drink Debate suggest that alc... » MORE
A DESPERATE mother who injected her severely brain-damaged son with a fatal dose of heroin in a mercy killing , was jailed for life and told she must serve a minimum of nine years, after being found guilty of murder today (Wed). Frances Anne Inglis, 57... » MORE
A YOUNG family were devastated after burglars broke into their home and stole a laptop containing irreplaceable wedding, honeymoon and baby pictures. Karen and Phil Crighton, who celebrated their third anniversary in September, never had prints made of th... » MORE
A LIDL store will open on the site of the former Robin Hood pub next summer. The supermarket in Longbridge Road will employ up to 30 staff. The landmark pub was nearly 100 years old when it shut in 2005. It is hoped the budget store will make as much as... » MORE
WEST HAM boss Gianfranco Zola has issued a rallying call to his beleaguered team to bounce back from their dismal home defeat against Bolton and cause a surprise at Chelsea this weekend, writes Dave Evans....
Goalkeeping coach and Hammers legend Ludek Miklosko is set to leave the club. The 48-year-old Czech, who made 365 appearances for the club between 1990-98, was appointed as the goalkeeping coach by Glenn Roeder in 2001. He will be replaced by Kevin Hitchc...
IT WAS A sickening tackle which left the midfielder writhing on the ground in agony, his leg broken in two places and his future career in doubt, writes DAVE EVANS. Aaron Ramsey for Arsenal against Stoke City a little over a week ago? No, it was the momen...
WEST HAM midfielder Valon Behrami admits Premier League survival will be a lot harder following Saturday s dismal home defeat by Bolton Wanderers, writes DAVE EVANS. The 24-year-old Swiss international, who has been linked with a move back to Serie A in t...
LAST WEDNESDAY S England international may have been a slightly disappointing one for West Ham defender Matty Upson and striker Carlton Cole, but for the other Hammer in the party, it proved to be a good night. Upson s slip, blamed on the precarious Wembl...
WEST HAM boss Gianfranco Zola felt that losing so many players to international commitments last week did not help the team s cause when it came to tackling Bolton Wanderers at Upton Park on Saturday. The Hammers had eight players away on international du...
WEST HAM began their preparations for this Saturday s trip to Chelsea, with a behind-closed-doors friendly at Upton Park on Monday. It was a chance for some of the fringe players to improve their fitness, and despite a 2-0 defeat to MLS team San Jose Eart...
West Ham 3 Crystal Palace 0 SCHOOLBOYS Dominic Vose and Robert Hall proved too hot to handle for Crystal Palace on Saturday morning as West Ham s Academy team returned to winning ways. The under-18s have not been at their best since their disappointing FA...
WEST HAM striker Terry Dixon may not have made the first team squad yet, but he was back in an Ireland shirt last week. The 20-year-old, who is slowly recovering from a career-threatening knee injury, was a substitute for the Republic, creating the Irish...
Chelsea v West Ham United Saturday, March 13, 3pm Stamford Bridge IF WEST HAM are faced with a few injuries and a couple of scandals the likelihood is that they would crumble under the pressure. Not so Chelsea. First they are likely to be missing Ricardo...
REDBRIDGE boys cricket team will play at Lord s Cricket Ground on Saturday, after they emerged from the qualifying rounds of the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games Indoor Cricket Cup at Harrow Leisure Centre at the weekend....
ILFORD AC walker Scott Davies clinched a silver medal at the National 10 Miles Road Walking Championships at the weekend. Over 10 twisting circuits at the Lee Valley Sports Complex in Ponders End on Saturday, Davies, finished behind eventual winner, Steyn...
CHRIS TOMLINSON admits he has let his British rival Greg Rutherford get under his skin, but says domestic rivalry will be the last thing on his mind at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, writes Tom Reynolds....
NEWHAM & ESSEX Beagles runner Moumin Geele claimed a magnificent silver medal at the National Cross Country Championships on Saturday, writes BEN WELCH. But the Beagles, who triumphed in the team event in 2009, had only the bare six athletes for the team...
HARUN ABDI of the Newham & Essex Beagles club took first place in the men s section of the City of London West Ham Park 5km run series. In the event held at West Ham Park on Valentine s Day, and dubbed the Love Run , Abdi clocked a time 17 minutes 51 sec...
THERE was double delight for Newham Boxing Club, when 12-year-olds Joe Temple and Viddal Riley clinched ABA Schools titles at the Royal Navy sponsored championships in Brentwood on Sunday....
West Ham s Dudley O Shaughnessy served notice that he is once again a real threat on the 2010 ABA title trail when he outpointed Repton rival Ahmet Patterson to win the North East London Divisional crown at Dukes Hall, Hornchurch, on Friday night....
PEACOCK BC S Wadi Camacho came out on top in his battle with heavyweight rival, Dagenham s Robin Dupre, at the North-East London Divisional ABA Championship finals held at Dukes Hall, Hornchurch on Friday....
ILFORD'S Wadi Camacho, a member of Canning Town's Peacock BC, came out on top in his battle with heavyweight rival Robin Dupre of Dagenham BC at the North-East London Divisional ABA Championship finals held at Dukes Hall, Hornchurch on Friday....
THE 2010 ABA Championship trail starts with a promising duel between England heavyweight rivals Wadi Camacho from Ilford and Dagenham BC prospect Robin Dupre, who look set to steal the show at the Dukes Hall, Hornchurch, on Friday night, writes LEN WHALEY....
THE 2010 ABA Championship trail starts with a promising duel between England heavyweight rivals Wadi Camacho of the Peacock BC and Dagenham BC prospect Robin Dupre, who look set to steal the show at the Dukes Hall, Hornchurch, on Friday night, writes LEN...
MANCHESTER S popular Hit-Man Ricky Hatton comes to town as a promoter on Friday, March 26, when he brings championship boxing back to Dagenham s Goresbrook Leisure Centre. The show is headed by a promising top-of-the-bill clash, when Deptford s Anthony...
CANNING TOWN hope George Hillyard s ambitions of boosting his ring career – and his bank balance – with a £32,000 winner s cheque in the Prizefighter light-middleweight tournament at York Hall on Friday night were shattered in his first contest of the tou...
NEWHAM S 2009 National Schools champion Desmond Johnson bounced back from the disappointment of defeat in this year s quarter-finals to record a good points victory on his own club show at East Ham Working Men s Club on Friday night. Johnson and Charlie...
AS USUAL, the Basi boys were in form when Fairbairn staged their latest show at East Ham Working Men s Club on Friday, with a 10-bout bill to entertain the fans....
WOODFORD GOLF CLUB held its previously postponed January medal at the weekend. Division One was won by former captain Nick Rowe, playing in the afternoon, with 37 stableford points off his handicap of 12, a score which equalled that of early starter Bill...
Thurrock 3 East London 4 ADAM LARKIN gave a captain s performance to help lead East London Hockey s men s team to a crucial away victory against promotion rivals Thurrock at the weekend. The narrow win leaves East London two points behind Thurrock with on...
Brentwood 0 East London 3 PATIENCE was the key for East London as a controlled performance at Brent-wood earned them another precious league victory. The home side sit at the foot of League Division Three SE, but they were no pushovers as East London were...
Maldon 22 East London 57 EAST LONDON returned to winning ways with a convincing victory over mid-table rivals Maldon on Satur-day. Following the narrow defeat to Thames three weeks earlier, the visitors appeared refreshed after their two week break and p...
New Compete Tennis member Ben Pritchard won the Essex Mens Singles Invitational event at the weekend, in an tournament which had a host of members from the squad based at Redbridge Sports Centre....
COMPETE TENNIS member Tanya Li was crowned champion of the David Lloyd Basildon under-16 Junior Spring tournament last week. The youngster saw off the challenge of Ellie Wilson, Nicola Judge, Angela Borowski and then Michelle Kogbe 6-4, 6-1 in the final t...
LEONARDO DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese team up again for SHUTTER ISLAND (15), based on Dennis Lehane s creepy mystery. It is 1954, at the height of the Cold War, and US Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) and his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) are summ...
SYRACUSE, a simple fisherman, catches a beautiful and mysterious woman in his trawler s nets. The woman seems to be dead, but then she comes alive before his eyes and he thinks he may be seeing things. With the help of his ailing, yet irrepressible daugh...
IN SUPERNATURAL action thriller LEGION (15), an out-of-the-way diner becomes the unlikely battleground for the survival of the human race. When God loses faith in Mankind, he sends his legion of angels to bring on the Apocalypse. Humanity s only hope lie...
LEWIS Carroll s children s classic gets the Tim Burton treatment as ALICE IN WONDERLAND (PG) goes goth. Burton regulars Johnny Depp (Mad Hatter) and Helena Bonham Carter (Red Queen) are joined by a cast of big names including Stephen Fry (Cheshire Cat),...
DEVOTED social worker Emily Jenkins has seen it all – lies, neglect, abuse – domestic horrors of every type. That is, until she takes on the case of 10-year-old Lillith Sullivan, whose eerie, secretive family leaves Emily shaken and disturbed. When Lill...
THE magic of the FA Cup is brought to the big screen in comedy drama THE SHOUTING MEN. Lowly Gillingham FC are drawn against Premier League giants Newcastle United – yes, well, you have to suspend belief – in the FA Cup quarter finals. A small group of...
JULIANNE Moore is Catherine, a successful doctor who suspects her handsome husband David (Liam Neeson), is cheating on her. To silence or answer her suspicions once and for all Catherine hires an irresistible and alluring young woman, Chloe (Amanda Seyfr...
AMY Adams stars in quirky Irish love story, LEAP YEAR (PG) as a young woman who has an elaborate scheme to propose to her boyfriend on February 29. However, she faces a major setback when bad weather threatens to derail her planned trip to Dublin. With...
INSPIRED by true events, EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES (PG) tells the story of John Crowley, a man who defied conventional wisdom and great odds, and risked his family s future to pursue a cure for his children s life-threatening disease. From his working class...
PERCI Trachtenberg (Ben Kingsley), widely regarded as the world s greatest living mathematician, meets Venkat Subramanyam (Amitabh Bachchan), a reclusive maths genius from India, who has cracked a theory that could redefine the principles of probability a...
ARMED with a dancefloor full of electro-pop anthems, his own clothing designs and a kitsch girl dance troupe to wear them, Alexander Price is living the dream, writes MATT TROLLOPE. Growing up in Sheffield, the 25-year-old got his first taste of London li...
TWO YEARS in the making and with Grammy Award- winning record producer Timbaland overseeing its creation, Amar s long-awaited second album is ready to wow audiences around the world. The 27-year-old from Gants Hill sings entirely in Hindi on Indo-urban po...
HAVING cut his teeth on tour with fellow R&B performers N-Dubz and Tinchy Stryder early last year, Stevie Hoang is now touring with JLS and has an addictive single, No Coming Back, due for release on March 8. Stevie, who was born and grew up in Walthamsto...
SOUL Heaven celebrates its 10th birthday with a bash at Ministry of Sound, Elephant & Castle, on Saturday, January 23. A cracking line-up sees Masters At Work producer extraordinaire Louie Vega headlining. Soul Heaven resident Phil Asher is in support, an...
BY DAY they are Aisha Stuart and Louise Bagan, but clubbers might know them better as Addictive – one of the hottest new music duos around. The girls, of Balaam Street, Plaistow, have already tasted success thanks to a massive club hit last year, Gonna B...
A TALENTED dancer who has featured in pop stars music videos and world tours, is hoping to scoop the top prize in an international B-Boy competition. Ashley Garcia, 28, of Green Lane, Ilford, is a member of Soul Mavericks – a team of dancers from all ov...
THE EAST London rave event that helped launch the careers of bands like The Prodigy and DJs like Carl Cox, celebrates its 20th birthday next weekend with a massive party at London Bridge. Raindance began life on September 16 in 1989 as an illegal rave in...
REMEMBER those heady days of the 90s when The Island, High Road, Ilford, played host to bands like Squeeze, and had a regular club night called Revolution? When The Island closed down, Revolution moved to The Pigeons, Romford Road, Stratford. Now the man...
AN urban music club night at The Broadway theatre, Barking, could become a regular thing and promoters hope the 18-plus clientele it attracts will go on to explore other events at the venue. Former BBC 1Xtra and Radio One presenter, DJ Excalibah heads Clu...
CHASE & Status (Saul Milton and Will Kennard) are producers who made their name on Essex drum and bass label Ram Records, working in studios across east London, and with regular DJ appearances at Fabric in Farringdon. With five Ram releases under their b...
A WEEKEND dodging paint pellets in the woods turns into a battle for survival for eight strangers in the action-packed and blood-soaked movie Paintball (18). The film is available on DVD from next Monday, courtesy of Icon Home Entertainment. And to cele...
IT S the famous, trend-setting show that made home-making a national passion. The Ideal Home Show is returning for its 102nd year, with a new look and 17-day format from March 20-April 5 – and the Recorder has five pairs of tickets to give away. The show...
I VE read all Martina Cole s books, so to get a chance to play one of her characters in the first theatre production of her work is brilliant. Actress Cathy Murphy is speaking in a break from rehearsals of Two Women, at the Theatre Royal Stratford East....
NOW in its second year, Oliver! is one of the most beloved British musicals, vividly bringing to life Dickens timeless story of the boy who asked for more. And the Recorder is giving away five pairs of tickets. Griff Rhys Jones, one of the country s most...
ITALOPHILES are getting a taste of La Dolce Vita as the best of Italy s food, drink, property, travel and design comes to London. And the Recorder is giving away five pairs of free tickets. From March 11-14, The Italian Festival in London takes over the B...
VETERAN actor, archivist and a teller of tales Murray Melvin laughs heartily and agrees that he is finally able to sleep deeply after spending three years compiling the history of his beloved Royal , writes KAY ATWAL. The Royal to which he refers is th...
IT IS worlds away from hanging out at Romford Ice Rink, and Chigwell s Gary Lucy admits his appearances on TV show Dancing on Ice have left him far from his comfort zone, writes JENNY COOMBES. But the former Bill and Hollyoaks star says he is having the...
LESS than two years ago Saci Lloyd was eking out a living as head of media at Newham sixth-form college, writes ELEANORE ROBINSON. Now a bestselling author, she has publicists on both sides of the Atlantic and has turned down the advances of one Mr Johnny...
BOLLYWOOD dance is heading to the small screen thanks to a choreographer Honey Kalaria s involvement in a reality television show for dancers, writes ANNA NALBORCZYK. Honey, Bollywood actress, model, dancer and founder of Honey s Dance Academy – which ru...
SINCE he emerged to great acclaim in Alan Clarke s Scum 30 years ago, Ray Winstone has become one of Britain s busiest and most popular screen actors. In his new film, 44 Inch Chest (18), he plays Colin, pictured, whose life is turned upside down when hi...
THE Members were one of the wittier guitar bands to emerge in the aftermath of the 1977 punk explosion, and we are giving away tickets to their gig at The Bridgehouse II, Canning Town, on March 27. Having got together in the sleepy suburbs of Bagshot and...
A THREE-day festival boasting the country s biggest gathering of reggae stars is set to be held in Hainault this summer. The One Love Festival will see thousands of music-lovers converge on Hainault Forest Country Park. The reggae and dub celebration, whi...
PUNK band 999, best known for their 1978 single Emergency, return to The Bridgehouse II, Bidder Street, Canning Town, on Saturday following their sell-out success last year. Tony Nicholls, of The Bridgehouse, says last year s show was one of the best the...
INDIE rock band Doves and electro pop extraordinaire Calvin Harris are the latest to join the bill for the V Festival at Hylands Park, Chelmsford, on August 21 and 22. Kings of Leon, Kasabian, Cheryl Cole, Pet Shop Boys, Stereophonics, Paul Weller, Floren...
BRIT winners Kasabian will headline this summer s V Festival in Chelmsford on August 22, with Kings of Leon doing the honours on August 21. Festival organisers announced the line-up this evening. Cheryl Cole will make her solo festival debut, while Pet Sh...
LADS about town Kid Jones are hoping to inject a twist of electro in to textbook indie rock, and are prepared to graft to get their success, writes MATT TROLLOPE. The Leytonstone foursome – David Hewson (lead vocals/ guitar), Mike Slader (bass guitar), Sa...
A FORMER school band are planning a re-union to celebrate their 60th birthdays. The Mynx were formed at Dagenham County High School – now Sydney Russell – in 1965 and plan to play a gig in the school hall on May 15. John Lane, Derek Haynes, John Orley, Jo...
TEENAGE singer-songwriter George Kirchner is certainly one to watch as this new decade unfolds, writes MATT TROLLOPE. Just 15, but with the maturity of a rock veteran, George, a pupil at Trinity Catholic High School, Mornington Road, Woodford Green, has s...
THEY dream of making it big in the pop music world, and four local acts took a step towards fulfilling that dream when they won through auditions to reach the London East regional final of this year s Live and Unsigned competition. There s still a long w...
DESPITE forming just six months ago,Woodford band The Invisible Afros have been plucked from 20,000 hopefuls to perform in the first round of a national music competition. The three-piece ska/punk/indie band have been practising religiously since they rec...
ILFORD S Kenny Awards were announced yesterday (Sunday), rewarding those involved in shows at the Kenneth More Theatre, Oakfield Road, Ilford. The winners were: Judy Walker Award for Young Person of the Year – twins Lee and Nicky Caulfield Best Actor - Jo...
STRATFORD Circus Upfront East and Newham Sixth Form College present a series of events for International Women s Week. The Speed of Dating, on Monday, 8pm, is a comedy about a woman trying to find love, but ending up in a string of awkward dates that sen...
THE hilarious Rick Abbott comedy Play On! is staged by Parkside Players this week. When a community theatre group are offered a royalty-free play – Murder Most Foul – from new playwright Phyllis Montague, the group welcome the chance to put the theatre ba...
THE dark violent world of a Martina Cole novel is not one that immediately springs to mind as an entertaining evening in the theatre. The first adaptation of one of her best-selling books for the stage is so gritty it could have solved this winter s snow...
STAND-UP comedians are difficult people. They love adversity, they love controversy, but above all, they love themselves. So what if two comedians got married? Aaron Counter and Liz Stephens did. Then they wrote a show about it. Mr and Mrs is a comedy two...
IN ITS 35-year history, Redbridge Stage Company has put on many mystery thrillers by writers such as Agatha Christie and Francis Durbridge. But there has been nothing like its latest production where the murderer could be anybody on stage. The prolific A...
AN EXPLOSIVE play based on a Martina Cole novel gets its world premiere at the Theatre Royal Stratford East on Friday. Cole, who still lives close to where she grew up near Tilbury, is one of the UK s most popular crime writers, renowned for her gritty, r...
IT S almost time for this year s theatre Oscars – the Kennys. The awards, to be presented in a lavish event at the Kenneth More Theatre, Ilford, on March 7, honour those who work so hard to stage quality shows there week...
CHAMPION band Redbridge Brass maintained their successful run of podium placings with third at this year s Mineworkers Open National Brass Band Festival held at Skegness. In this demanding contest the band impressed the audience with some masterful playi...
MOUSY Sue Graves runs a funeral parlour in Bingley Bridge. No one knows she is a diva fanatic, until the day she is offered a cabaret spot at Harry s Place. Overnight, Tammy Frascati is born and Sue finds herself hurtling to stardom and Las Vegas, perform...