Brentwood and Essex news, sport and information from the Brentwood Weekly News

Legionnaires' caught from compost

12:12am Friday 3rd September 2010

A hidden danger in the garden has been highlighted by the case of a man who contracted Legionnaires' disease from handling compost.

Record fall in alcohol consumption

12:12am Friday 3rd September 2010

The UK has seen its biggest fall in alcohol consumption in 60 years, according to new figures from an industry body.

School place lottery system 'fails'

12:12am Friday 3rd September 2010

A controversial "lottery" designed to allocate school places fairly has failed to reduce segregation between rich and poor pupils, research suggests.

Ed Balls outlines £250m jobs pledge

12:12am Friday 3rd September 2010

Ed Balls has put employment at the centre of his campaign for the Labour leadership by outlining a £250 million plan to create 200,000 jobs and work placements for the unemployed.

Cheryl Cole in 'quickie divorce'

11:26pm Thursday 2nd September 2010

Cheryl Cole will be divorced from her footballer husband Ashley on Friday, it was reported.

BBC chief defends impartiality

11:19pm Thursday 2nd September 2010

The BBC has defended its impartiality after the director general of the corporation was photographed going into a meeting in Downing Street to apparently discuss coverage of government spending cuts.

Pakistan cricket trio suspended

9:39pm Thursday 2nd September 2010

The three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of match-fixing allegations have been suspended from playing cricket after being charged under the anti-corruption code of the sport's governing body.

Man battered wife and girl to death

7:15pm Thursday 2nd September 2010

A businessman who battered his wife and daughter to death with a mallet professed his love for his family repeatedly in the moments after their brutal killings, an inquest heard.

Shopkeeper 'battered with bottles'

6:25pm Thursday 2nd September 2010

A shopkeeper was battered to death in his own store as he tried to protect his "hard-earned money" from a gang of robbers, a jury has been told.

'Talks held' over assisted suicide

5:52pm Thursday 2nd September 2010

A team of professionals held an urgent meeting to discuss a disabled pensioner who repeatedly threatened to kill himself seven months before he ended his life at a Swiss clinic.