logo
Essex Police imposes dispersal order over upcoming car-meet

Essex Police imposes dispersal order over upcoming car-meet

BBC News31-05-2025

Police have imposed a dispersal order in two towns due to concerns about a large number of cars meeting up.Essex Police has issued the order for Harlow and Epping from 18:00 BST on Saturday until 06:00 on Sunday.Recent events have involved vehicles being driven at "excessive speeds" and carrying out "dangerous manoeuvres", the force said.Officers can order people suspected of being involved in the car-meet to leave the area or face arrest, banning them from returning for 48 hours.
Officers will be in "key locations across both districts to enforce the order", the force added.Law abiding road users and the public would not be affected by the order, it also said.
Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

I'm a priest - I don't get paid a salary but I do get a house
I'm a priest - I don't get paid a salary but I do get a house

Sky News

time25 minutes ago

  • Sky News

I'm a priest - I don't get paid a salary but I do get a house

If you've ever spent your Monday morning commute daydreaming about starting afresh with your career, this feature is for you. Each Monday, we speak to someone from a different profession to discover what it's really like. This week we chat to Rev Helen Harknett, priest-in-charge at St Philip and St Mark's in Camberwell, southeast London. Priests do not get paid a salary... my stipend is £31,063. The stipend is not a salary. Parish priests are not employees, but officeholders. The stipend is paid to enable the clergy person to exercise their ministry without the need to take another job to earn their living. It is intended to provide adequately for a clergy person to live during their working years and into retirement. Sometimes we get a rise... it depends on inflation, usually - but the stipend is fixed. And we don't get bonuses. Some of the accommodation we get with our roles can be terrific... I could not afford to live in my current house if it didn't come with my job - and I realise I'm really fortunate in that. However, we don't get to choose where we live, and it doesn't belong to us so, in many ways, we're stuck with what we get. For example, my house is large, but doesn't have double glazing, so I really struggle to pay for heating it. A pension isn't a perk, and it's very modest. Basically, the rewards are never going to be financial in this role... the biggest and most obvious perk is the access I get to other people, and often at the most significant moments of their life: birth, marriage, death. We tend to see people both at their happiest and at their most vulnerable, and that is always a great privilege. Career progression depends on... who you are, what you enjoy, what your gifts might be. Everyone is a trainee (a curate) to begin with, and this training takes place within a parish. After that, you might run your own parish church, or go into one of the many forms of chaplaincy - prison, school, university, hospital, armed forces - or a diocesan job, meaning you work for the whole area in one particular field. More senior roles exist within all these contexts, and there is also Cathedral ministry, or being responsible for larger groups of people and parishes such as being an archdeacon or a bishop. But none of this is guaranteed: we believe that we're called by God to minister in particular ways, so hopefully we fulfil our vocation and get the roles that bring us most to life. This doesn't always happen, but it's certainly the aim! My experience as a woman in a male dominated field has been... largely positive. There's still a considerable amount of prejudice against female clergy, and a lot of it is not overt so is difficult to challenge. It's still considered acceptable to be against the ordination or preferment of women, for example, whereas it's not acceptable to be against the people that are against us! So forbearance can sometimes seem to work in one direction. But for the most part people are really positive about having women in senior positions, and say so regularly. When I was seven, I told my parish priest... that I wanted to be a vicar. This was before it was possible for women to be ordained in the Church of England (or Wales). He told me to concentrate on my studies and become a lawyer or a doctor or something. So I duly shelved the idea. But in my late twenties, the sense of calling returned, by which time it was possible for women to be ordained. So shortly after my son was born, in 2011, I offered myself for ordination. It was not my first job... before this I was a portfolio manager, working for an elevator company. I was responsible for customer retention, managing complex and sometimes conflict-laden relationships between company and client. The Vicar of Dibley was so important because... it came out not at all long after the first women were ordained in the Church of England. Because it was done with humour by the brilliant Dawn French it helped dispel some of the fear around having women as priests - would we be able to do it? Would we change the Church beyond recognition? The programme showed that we're all just human with our various gifts and flaws, and maybe even that being a woman could be a bonus in some contexts. It also humorously showed some of the prejudice women priests were - and still are - subject to. Fleabag did a different thing, I think: it showed perhaps our great need of what the Church offers, how compelling and attractive it can be, and how counter-cultural. Both demonstrated really well, I think, that priests are just people with a very particular role, and how others can project their longings - as well as their prejudices - on to us. No day is the same... but an average weekday begins with the school run after which I return to church or to my home to say the Daily Office (prayers), sometimes with others, sometimes alone. There is usually some sort of community event each day; so we run a toddler group and a lunch club, at which we play, eat, dance, chat, listen - deepening relationships as we do so and creating safe spaces for people to be. In the afternoon, I might visit someone who is sick or housebound; sometimes taking the Sacrament (consecrated bread) and oils for anointing with me. It's remarkable how many people, even those who do not profess a faith, request prayer and accept the offer of anointing in the face of any adversity. The evening usually brings with it a meeting of some sort: an interfaith meeting, or an event planning meeting, a reflective practice session or bible study. And then, within the planned day, space is always found for the pastoral emergencies, the day to day maintenance of the building, and administration. The day ends in prayer. To become a priest... once you've been through the rigours of the discernment process and you've been accepted by the Church of England for training, you must then undergo some form of theological training. I, for example, studied theology residentially at Westcott House in Cambridge, but there are many different training pathways and academic awards to suit students' different learning styles, experience and familial situations. Alongside academic training, as an ordinand (someone hoping to be ordained), you also enter into a time of formation, as you learn to inhabit your calling to priesthood. Your training then must include supervised mission, ministry and worship in a ministerial (usually church) context. You are also encouraged to explore some sort of chaplaincy (prison, school, hospice) during this time, as well as learning the skill of reflective practice, ideally using this time to become more aware of your psychological profile and trigger points. The most important skill to learn... (though I am still learning this!) is to rely on and trust God. At the ordination service the Bishop says, "You cannot bear the weight of this calling alone. Pray earnestly for the Holy Spirit." Relying on and resting in God and not on your own talent, strength, tenacity, is the key, I think, to a long and fruitful ministry. 'Recruitment' is truly the business of the Holy Spirit... though there are of course ways in which we, the Church, can encourage and hopefully inspire some of those among us to consider ordination as a possibility. I am one of the Bishop of Southwark's area directors of ordinands. This means that I work with candidates who are exploring a sense of vocation to the priesthood. In the diocese of Southwark, we are intentional about encouraging demographic groups which are more sparsely represented in Holy Orders. At present, there is an ongoing focus on seeking out and encouraging UK ethnic minority candidates and also those from white working class backgrounds. The biggest misconception about my role is... that we work only on Sundays. But also, I would say that there is a misconception that priests spend most of their time in church. We don't. We spend most of our time with the people we have been sent to: feeding the hungry, offering companionship to the lonely, helping people to fill in forms and to navigate the world in very practical, unglamorous ways. I know the trends say that church attendance in the West is diminishing but... the church at which I serve was poorly attended when I arrived five years ago. That is no longer the case. So, for me, the "job" has become bigger and busier and I am recognising over and over again a yearning for meaning, a yearning for belonging, a yearning for something "other". Of course I question my faith... when we stop asking questions we stop getting answers. Jesus himself asked hard questions of God. We have inherited a faith that encourages questions, thought and criticism. Once at a baptism I... asked a woman whose three year old was being baptised when her next baby was due - gesturing excitedly at her stomach, which looked pregnant. She wasn't. And in a panic, after apologising, I said that I thought I'd heard something on the grapevine that she was expecting again. I hadn't. I was just embarrassed and, rather than straightforwardly apologising for getting it wrong, lied in an attempt to make it better and save face. This only made things worse, as the woman then imagined everyone had been making judgements about the size of her stomach. Lying tends to magnify problems, rather than solve them, whatever we might think when we're afraid, or in a tight spot. The most common question people ask me about God is... "where was God when... (insert terrible tragedy)?" The recent scandals have affected the perception of the Church in a way... though there have always been scandals and disagreements in the Church, so although the subjects might change I'm not sure this is anything very new. I believe, though, that good can come of it: we have to work really hard, now, to show that we're open and transparent, that we care for all people, without exception, that the Church can be a safe place for everyone. It's quite right that we're criticised when it's shown that this is not the case, and we need to say sorry, ask forgiveness, and then do better.

Partner of charity boss found dead after rescuers attended a gas explosion is remanded in custody over 'murder and arson'
Partner of charity boss found dead after rescuers attended a gas explosion is remanded in custody over 'murder and arson'

Daily Mail​

time26 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Partner of charity boss found dead after rescuers attended a gas explosion is remanded in custody over 'murder and arson'

A man appeared in court today charged with murdering his partner who was found stabbed following a gas explosion at her home. Annabel Rook, 46, was discovered fatally injured with multiple stab wounds in the living room of a house in Stoke Newington, North East London, on June 17. Clifton George, 44, was arrested for murder at the scene shortly after officers arrived, taken to hospital with slash injuries, then discharged and released into police custody. The Metropolitan Police confirmed this morning that he had been charged yesterday with Ms Rook's murder and arson with intent to endanger life. Today, George spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address when he appeared in the dock at Thames Magistrates' Court in Bow. Ms Rook co-founded the refugee and women's organisation MamaSuze, an arts-based unit which helps victims of forced displacement and gender-based violence. Prosecutor Cathryn Evans repeated the organisation's tribute, telling the court Ms Rook was 'a shining light who dedicated her life to supporting others'. 'She spent the last 20 years of her career bringing joy and creativity to marginalised people and she cared deeply about improving the lives of vulnerable women and children.' George was remanded in custody to next appear at the Old Bailey on June 25. Acting Detective Chief Superintendent Brittany Clarke, who is in charge of policing for the Central East Basic Command Unit, said: 'Our thoughts continue to remain with the family and friends of Annabel as they navigate this devastating loss. 'We ask that the public refrain from speculation and respect their privacy at this time, and we thank the Hackney community for their ongoing support.' Police were called at 4.57am on June 17 to reports of a gas explosion with a person trapped inside the property. The front bay window of the property was completely blown out that morning, with debris including plants, wooden shutters and glass scattered across the street. Two children, aged seven and nine, were taken to hospital as a precaution following the incident but are not thought to have been inside the home when the explosion happened. Six fire engines and 40 firefighters were also called to the scene. In a statement previously issued via the Metropolitan Police, Ms Rook's family said they were 'struggling to come to terms with this terrible tragedy'. 'We have lost our beautiful daughter, sister, friend and mother. Annabel was a truly wonderful woman,' the tribute read. 'She touched the hearts of so many. 'She gave her life to helping the vulnerable and the disadvantaged whether it was in refugee camps in Africa or setting up MamaSuze in London, to enhance the lives of survivors of forced displacement and gender-based violence. 'We would really appreciate it if our privacy could be respected.' MamaSuze is defined as a Community Interest Company (CIC), which is a limited company intended to benefit a community that cannot be registered as a charity. Anyone with information that could assist the investigation into the incident has been urged to contact police on 101 quoting CAD 926/17June. Alternatively, information can be provided anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Man seriously injured while getting out of car in Northampton
Man seriously injured while getting out of car in Northampton

BBC News

time29 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Man seriously injured while getting out of car in Northampton

A man has been seriously injured after he was struck by a car while he was getting out of a vehicle. The accident happened at about 17:50 BST on Friday in Abington Square in man, in his 20s, was getting out of a stationary grey Volvo XC90 when he was hit by a grey BMW 3 Series Police said he was taken to University Hospital Coventry with serious injuries and they have appealed for witnesses. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store