News of today's Budget has been welcomed by Maldon MP John Whittingdale, who believes it will help the local economy "bounce back even stronger".

In a statement following Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Budget announcement, Mr Whittingdale said: "The Budget today is fantastic news for all those people and businesses who were worried how they would get through the next few months until they are able to get fully back to work.

"Many local firms in Maldon have been in contact with me over the last few weeks asking for an extension of support measures like the furlough scheme, help for the self-employed, restart grants, the business rates holiday and the reduced rate of VAT.

"The Chancellor has announced all of these as well as new measures like the Super Deduction to help business to invest for the future and the new Freeports at both Thames Gateway, and Felixstowe and Harwich.

"Thanks to the Government's roadmap made possible by the vaccine programme, we can look forward to the removal of the current restrictions.

"Thanks to the Chancellor, we can now look forward not just to recovery but to the economy bouncing back even stronger."

To read more about the new Freeports you can find a report from our Thurrock Nub News edition here.