Southend’s infamous Millennium Clock is to be removed.

The clock arrived (12 monthe late) at the top of the High Street as a celebration of the dawn of a new millennium. It was based on a design by a local schoolgirl.

Over the last nine years, the clock has been a) temperamental and b) controversial, and it’s hardly been a reliable timepiece – failing to keep the right time despite repairs, and rarely rotating as designed. There was talk of moving it to an indoor location, to protect the poor thing from the weather.

Well, it seems that time is finally up, and Southend Borough Council are set to remove it – at a cost to us of £5,000.

There’s some discussion in our forum on the fate of the clock – feel free to join in.

Going to miss the clock? Comments please!

OK – Technically, this isn’t a news story worthy of inclusion on southendnews.co.uk, but it’s our site, so we can bend the rules to vent a little.

My mission today was to take back a faulty Joggler to the o2 store in Southend – you know – the one that’s been on the High Street for years near the corner of Clifftown Road.

This is what I found.

So, I checked the o2 website on my mobile, in case it’d moved. No… it should be there – 91-93 High Street, Southend-on-Sea. But it wasn’t. So I called the number listed, 01702-432077, but no answer.

Very helpful girl in a nearby shop told me they’d closed down, and as there was no “we’ve moved” sign… looked to be the case. What was an o2 shop now seems to be a closed unit with old computer monitors, junk, and “space to let” signs in the window.

So – A call to o2. No – it’s definitely there, I was told, and I should go to o2.co.uk for a map. They were adamant that 91 High Street, the empty shop I was at, was right in front of me, and still a going concern.

About to give up, I thought I’d try some local knowledge, and put in a call to o2 Basildon. Steve, nice chap, informed me that the shop’s moving – and should be back next week, close to Clintons. At least someone at o2 has a clue!

So now I know… And hopefully, so does anyone else looking for o2 in Southend in the next few weeks…

o2 – They’re better, connected, apparently…

In probably the most pointless post we’ve ever made, we’ve been asked to alert our loyal readers that, err, it’s snowing.

Yes – that’s right – we’ve had reported sightings of white stuff falling and settling on surfaces, in turn turning those surfaces a white, snowy colour.

As a real insult to your intelligence, here’s a photo, taken from the Sarfend.co.uk office window mere minutes ago. We’ve discovered that turning the flash on lights the snowflakes as they fall.

There – true eye-witness news live and direct from snowy Southend.

Our advice? Have a cup of tea and look out of the window – if you look closely, you too may see some snow.

If there are any further updates on this story, we’ll let you know.

UPDATE: It’s still snowing.