WE'VE rounded up some of this week's headlines from Basildon, Castle Point and Southend.

1. An eight-year-old boy was left with a puncture wound to his arm after he was bitten by a dog in Rochford. 

He was walking with an adult friend in St Clare Meadow between 3.15pm and 3.45pm on Friday, January 15, when the attack happened.

The pair were walking through the driveway between the houses when they were approached by a teenager who was holding two Staffordshire Bull Terrier type dogs who were both light in colour. One had brown markings.

2. A banned driver was caught driving while disqualified - just a week after he was released from prison for the same offence.

Sharam Salimi had just got out of prison after serving a 16-week jail term for driving whilst disqualified when he was stopped by police again.

Despite having only been freed seven days earlier for breaking his driving ban, he was arrested on Canvey whle driving a Seat Leon.

3. Hooded robbers held a knife to a man’s throat during a terrifying carjacking outside a pub in Leigh.

Rob Tii, 26, who lives Benfleet, was parked in a layby by The Elms pub in London Road with his female friend, when two men approached his Suzuki car.

One of the men leant through the window, pulled out a small Stanley knife and held it against the 26-year-old’s throat before the woman’s hair was grabbed and she was threatened with the blade too.

4. A SUPERFIT 71-year-old scuba diver has spoken of his surprise after airline staff told him he is too old to sit in emergency exit seats.

Ron Baron and his wife Carol, 68, booked their November holiday to Hurghada, Egypt, at Thomson Holidays, in Rayleigh High Street.

Mr Baron has been told he's too old to sit in the emergency exit seats on a plane – despite being a marathon runner and scuba diver.

5. A NEW Thames crossing is set to be a tunnel and will run between Tilbury and East Tilbury, the government has announced.

The proposed scheme would run from the end of the M2, crossing the river just east of Gravesend and Tilbury and joining the M25 between junctions 29 and 30.

There are then three options once the road is in Thurrock. Route three is the preferred option from Highways England.

6. A YOUNG man has been left unable to walk following a motorbike crash in Southend.

Paul Perry, 23, a security guard from Westcliff, was left paralysed from the neck down and has respiratory problems after a crash on his motorbike in Southchurch Road.

His family have now started a fundraising campaign to aid his recovery.

7. A COUNCIL is threatening to take action against anyone who deliberately sets out to harm visitors to Hockley Woods after booby traps were set for cyclists.

Rochford District Council has issued a warning after a cyclist was hospitalised with concussion after riding round a bend and into a trap.

Traps set include logs rolled into the middle of the path and branches tied to trees to act as a barrier.

8. A NEW airline route to Croatia could be launching at Southend Airport soon after the airport confirmed it was in talks with a number of carriers about starting services.

Sea Air has announced on its website that it will be starting to operate flights between the eastern European country’s fourth largest city Osijek and Southend Airport on March 24.

However, the airport’s chief executive Glyn Jones said discussions were still on going with the airlines and no routes had been confirmed.

9. A SOUTHEND restaurant sustained fire damage to its roof and store room after a suspected arson attack that started in a wheelie bin spread to the premises.

Two fire engines from Southend were called to deal with the incident at Tomassi's restaurant.

10.  A FATHER who suffered a cardiac arrest during a gym workout has thanked those who rushed to his aid and resuscitated him.

Postman Tony Kerrigan, 62, of Southend Road, Crays Hill, suffered the attack after a treadmill workout at Club Kingswood, in Clay Hill Lane, Basildon.

He was resuscitated by workers and off-duty medics who performed CPR and used a defibrillator after finding him collapsed in a stairwell.