Grays, Thurrock, England, United Kingdom

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Grays is the largest town in the borough and unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex, England and one of Thurrock's traditional parishes. The town, on the north bank of the River Thames, is approximately 20 miles to the east of central London, and 2 miles east of the M25 motorway. Its economy is linked to Port of London industries, its own offices, retail and the Lakeside Shopping Centre at West Thurrock.

History Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary that he visited Grays on 24 September 1665 and apparently bought fish from the local fishermen. Parts of Grays and Chafford Hundred are set within three Victorian chalk pits; the largest two being the Lion Gorge, and the Warren Gorge. Another area of the Chafford Hundred residential development is built on a Victorian landfill site. The civic offices on New Road in Grays were built in the 1980s; work on an extension began in January 2020.

On 1 April 1936 the parish was abolished to form Thurrock.

On 23 October 2019, the bodies of 39 people were found in the back of a lorry at Waterglade Industrial Park in Eastern Avenue. They are believed to have been victims of human trafficking, or migrants being smuggled into Britain. The vehicle, registered in Bulgaria, was thought to have travelled to the UK through Purfleet from Zeebrugge. A 25-year-old lorry driver from Northern Ireland was arrested by Essex Police on suspicion of murder and pleaded guilty to manslaughter in April 2020. Essex Police launched an investigation afterwards and the lorry was moved to the nearby Port of Tilbury. It is the biggest murder investigation in the history of Essex police. On 26 May 2020, a total of 26 further suspects, most of whom Vietnamese nationals, were arrested in Belgium and France.

Geography Grays contains the wards and residential areas of Grays Riverside, Grays Thurrock, Stifford Clays, Little Thurrock Blackshots, Little Thurrock Rectory and Chadwell St Mary. Parts of Chafford Hundred and North and South Stifford are also in Grays.

The nearest places to Grays are: • Aveley • Brentwood • Chadwell St Mary • Chafford Hundred • East Tilbury • North Stifford • Orsett • Orsett Heath • Purfleet-on-Thames • South Ockendon • South Stifford • Tilbury • West Thurrock • Basildon.

Transport Grays has good road links, being close to the A13 road and the M25 motorway. The A126 London Road is the main road which links Grays town centre with Lakeside Shopping Centre, Purfleet and Tilbury.

Grays railway station runs through the centre of the built-up core and is served by c2c services to London Fenchurch Street to the west and Shoeburyness to the east.

Also Grays bus station by the station above is a hub for most bus services in Thurrock. The bus services are operated by Ensignbus, First Essex and NIBS Buses.