Catch up with all the latest news across the county with Bartholomew Hall.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight live on KMTV. I'm Bartholomew Hall. Here are your
00:27top stories on Friday the 6th of December. Daylight robbery, vet clinic in Chatham warns
00:33of card machine scams amid holiday season. Words doesn't explain how awful I felt because
00:40it's something that could be such a smooth transaction and that should have been very
00:44straightforward. Bracing the weather, that's right another storm is on its way with a yellow
00:48warning of rain for the whole of Kent. We could see damaging winds, some strong gusts
00:54and that means flying debris. And cold feet, Gillingham Food Bank charity asks for sock
01:00donations as the winter chill arrives. So we already do a lot of stuff, we feed people,
01:05we give them hot food, hot drinks, warm clothing, blankets, the most important part of your
01:10body. Good evening, a Chatham vet is warning businesses to stay on the lookout for card
01:24fraud this winter after falling victim to a scam which has lost them almost £6,000.
01:30And with many residents plus charities relying on the Clover Street vets in Chatham, the
01:34impact of such scams can clearly be far reaching as they've been telling our reporter Kristen
01:40Hawthorne who has this report. I felt absolutely awful. Words doesn't explain how awful I felt
01:47because it's something that could be such a smooth transaction and that should have
01:51been very straightforward. When you think of a scam you may think of text messages
01:55or online links but when this vet clinic in Chatham was targeted the suspect was not hiding
02:00behind a screen. Just yesterday a man walked into this vet to get treatment for his dog.
02:06The initial cost was only £20 but after being handed the machine he tampered with the device
02:11refunding himself almost £6,000. Apparently it only took a few seconds. Clover Street
02:17vets in Chatham has been a victim to a new kind of scam that has left them in shock,
02:22urging them to share their experience and warn others to stay vigilant during the busy
02:26Christmas period. The scam was done through their card machine that is commonly used by
02:31smaller businesses. I think it's awful, especially over Christmas added on top of everything.
02:36I mean small businesses struggle anyway. To be self-employed is really difficult but for
02:42you know companies to have trust in their customers not to scam them but I think it's
02:48just something that people need to be more aware of and that it can happen in the blink
02:52of an eye and I would just urge people if something doesn't look right or feel right
02:57then to definitely contact the card companies as soon as possible and hopefully the quicker
03:01the action the better the outcome. Vets are vital for pets, wildlife and animals that
03:08are in need of help and when scams like this happen it has a real impact on those who rely
03:12on the service, especially during Christmas time when animals are much more likely to
03:17be abandoned due to financial pressures and overbreeding. We work with Wisteria Cat Rescue,
03:23he's with us on a daily basis and it's very, it does put a strain on the work that we're
03:30able to do with him at reduced cost to allow him to do the work that he needs. So we'll
03:36be here six days a week visiting the vets for all different things. At Christmas time
03:41we do see a rise in unfortunately animals being dumped. Only last week we was out at
03:46Raynham to five young kittens that had been dumped in a car park so it's so important
03:50to have a vet that's readily available. In a statement Kent Police have said that officers
03:55have spoken to the victim and an investigation is underway, including the review of CCTV.
04:01I hope it doesn't happen to anybody else and just you know shopkeepers particularly those
04:06that have terminals that can input amounts just to be extra vigilant. So in the midst
04:12of Christmas time and rising scams in Kent it is important to stay aware.
04:17Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV in Chatham.
04:21Next night Kent is bracing for impact this Friday night as Storm Darragh is set to bring
04:26strong winds to the county for almost two days. The Met Office has implemented a yellow
04:30weather warning for the whole of Kent with some Christmassy events having been cancelled
04:34or postponed as a precaution. Our reporter Xenia Nakvi joins me now with an update on
04:39the latest of those events to be cancelled, the Rochester Christmas Market. What can you
04:43tell me?
04:44Yeah so a few hours ago Bartholomew Medway Council announced that the Christmas Festival
04:48had to be cancelled this weekend due to the approaching storm. I mean Rochester's High
04:54Street was once again due to be transformed for the annual festival celebrating the heritage
04:58of Medway writer Charles Dickens with traditional costumes and street entertainment but it's
05:04had to be postponed. We spoke to Claire from Rochester City Centre Forum. She says whilst
05:09the festival won't be going ahead shops will remain open this weekend.
05:14We look forward to it all year. We planned for it from the spring and this year was going
05:20to probably be our best year ever. We've collaborated with the events team throughout the summer.
05:27You can't prevent a yellow weather warning and it's potentially going to be a red weather
05:32warning which is what's happening in the west of the country at the moment. You have
05:35to take that seriously. Safety comes first.
05:40Yeah so obviously with both the Christmas Market and the Dickensian Festival being cancelled
05:44in Rochester it's obviously being taken very seriously this yellow warning but there have
05:48been some other events as well. What can you tell me?
05:50Yeah so other events across Kent have also been cancelled including Leeds Castle near
05:55Maidstone which was forced to shut its annual Christmas lights display. It's apologised
06:00to the customers for the inconvenience but is trying to get that sorted and further down
06:03south Dover Town Council has had to postpone their winter light display for the first time
06:08in four years. It has actually been pushed back to Saturday the 8th of February and was
06:15meant to take place this Saturday.
06:16Yeah so let's talk about the storm itself then. Obviously we've got the picture of the
06:20warnings here. Obviously some rare red warnings happening in the west of the country but what
06:24can you tell us about the impacts that we might expect here in Kent?
06:28So the weather warning, the weather experts say that strong winds are predicted to hit
06:33the county. A flood alert is also in place along the Royal Military Canal in Hythe and
06:40earlier we spoke to Met Office meteorologist Claire Nassir about what we can expect here
06:45in Kent.
06:47Storm Darragh is a powerful storm barrelling into the UK from the west. The greatest impacts
06:53will be towards the west where we do have a red warning for wind. However there's a
06:58broad yellow warning covering much of the UK including Kent where we could see damaging
07:04winds and strong gusts and that means flying debris. So some challenging weather out there
07:10as we head through the weekend. For most parts of the country the advice is do not travel,
07:16stay indoors and certainly keep an eye on the forecast. There will be updates to the
07:20warnings.
07:22Yes, so clearly strong warnings there. Anything else that we should know before the weekend?
07:27So Storm Darragh has already caused 130 flood alerts across the whole UK and we do expect
07:32heavy rain and winds up to 80 miles per hour to come. I mean the Environment Agency is
07:37urging people to not drive through flood water. It might be tempting if you've got somewhere
07:41to be but the water is often deeper than it looks and just 30 centimetres of flowing water
07:47is enough to float your car so do be careful if you're driving this weekend.
07:51Xenia, thank you for those details.
07:53Now an entrepreneur from Ashford says he's disappointed and disheartened after discovering
07:57his Lamborghini had been smashed up on a TikTok video. This is the moment Matt Velvick's £250,000
08:04Lamborghini Huracan was damaged in Queen Street whilst he was picking up supplies. The video
08:08which was posted to the social media site by Passersby shows the 49-year-old Darren
08:13Babbage using a pint glass to smash the car's windows. Well Babbage, who suffers from bipolar
08:19disorder, pleaded guilty to criminal damage at Folkestone Magistrates. He's now been handed
08:23a 12-month community order, an order to pay £2,400 in compensation.
08:33More than 1,000 patients on the waiting list for this dentist in Gillingham. So why do
08:37so many not have a dentist?
08:40Since the pandemic, less and less dentists are available as a workforce. It's nationally
08:47but especially in Kent, we have noticed that the number of dentists have either retired
08:54or have moved just into the private sector.
09:01We have a lower number of dentists that they want to locate into Kent. The majority of
09:07dentists, they want to work into London. We are working hard on it. We actually have the
09:15workforce, but they are at this point in time just registered as therapists. They are overseas
09:21qualified dentists, but it takes a long process for the GDC to acknowledge their registration.
09:25There's two exams that can take up to 18 months for those exams to be completed, for them
09:31to be acknowledged and be able to work as a dentist.
09:34One in seven people in Kent and Medway don't have a dentist, which is the highest rate
09:39across the south-east of England. That's also higher than the average of one in eight across
09:44the whole of England. This is shown by recent figures released from the Office for National
09:48Statistics Health Insights survey.
09:50We have talked about, well, could we get a school of dentistry as part of one of our
09:56universities, because we haven't got that. One of the things that we can do through our
10:00public health team is to signpost people to dentists that we know are still taking NHS patients.
10:07The Department for Health and Social Care said in a statement, it's unacceptable that
10:11people are struggling to find a dentist. They are committed to rebuilding the sector
10:15and say they'll start with an extra 700,000 urgent appointments and will reform the dental
10:21contract to make it more appealing to dentists.
10:25Nia Price for KMTV.
10:32Moving on to sport now. Mark Bonners-Gillingham are looking for a much-needed win this weekend
10:36against Salford after a disappointing 3-1 loss to local rivals Bromley earlier this
10:41week. Gillingham have picked up just one win in their last 11 games across all competitions
10:46and currently sit 12th in the League Two table. The Gilles boss says it's a frustrating time
10:50for his team.
10:51It's certainly going to be a challenging game, one, because of the form that they're in,
10:57but two, because of the situation we find ourselves in. To have lost as many of the
11:02games that we have is shocking really. We should have taken points from games, we should
11:06have won games that we haven't. And we keep finding ways of losing those games, which
11:11is really frustrating. So I think overall, we know that we're in a bad position at the
11:18moment, we know that we're in a bad run of form at the moment, we know the team's not
11:21reflective of what any of us want to see on the football pitch, supporters included.
11:28Time for a quick break now, but coming up we'll be hearing why a charity in Medway is
11:31asking for your socks this Christmas, our politics producer Oliver Leeder-DeSax will
11:35be here after a brand new episode of the Kent Politics Show, and find out why a school bus
11:40in Medway has had a merry makeover. All of that and plenty more coming up.
15:11Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight live on KMTV. Now off the back of another episode
15:16of the Kent Politics Show this evening, it's time to look over some of this week's biggest
15:20political headlines, including a reset moment for the Labour government after a shaky few
15:25months following some big wins here in Kent. Or to make sense of it all, I'm joined by
15:29our politics producer Oliver Leeder-DeSax now. Ollie, good to have you here after another
15:33episode of the Kent Politics Show. We've got on the screen here in front of Keir Starmer,
15:37plan for change. That was his big announcement this week. What does that mean here in Kent?
15:41Well, Bartholomew, it was a bit of a Christmas list. It's been off the back of a relatively
15:47shaky start for the Labour government. Obviously, they've pushed through some of their agenda
15:52already. Rail renationalisation, for example, but their budgets, including inheritance tax,
15:58some insurance contributions for businesses. They've left some here in the county with
16:04cold feet. And that's what they're trying to address here. It's a big reset moment.
16:08Some measurable goals that we can judge the government on over the next couple of years.
16:13They don't hit their new targets. They've basically failed in the eyes of the electorate.
16:19So a lot is at stake. But it's a little confusing, I'll admit. Three foundations, seven pillars
16:25of growth. And of course, those six milestones. You look a little confused over there, Bartholomew.
16:32So I've made this helpful breakdown to kind of show people what it's all about, this plan
16:37for change. It wasn't quite James Bond, but for Kent's politicians, Sir Keir Starmer's
16:44attempt to reboot his government at Pinewood Studios was big box office.
16:51Today we publish new milestones, measurable milestones that will also give the British
16:58people the power to hold our feet to the fire. Because that accountability, that is part
17:06of how we shift the focus in Westminster towards long term change.
17:11With more pillars and foundations than a home makeover, Labour's plan for the next five
17:16years may appear a little complicated. But boiled down to the essentials, the Prime Minister
17:24aims to hit six key milestones by the next election. These include improving living standards
17:32across the UK and Kent, rebuilding Britain with 1.5 million new homes, safer streets
17:40with 13,000 new neighbourhood officers, more than 6,000 new teachers to improve education
17:48and decarbonising our energy grid by 2030. And while that may sound like a lot, there
17:57was one thing that didn't make the list. Immigration.
18:01We were incredibly disappointed that Labour seems to have turned their back on the idea
18:06of having a deterrent through the Rwanda scheme. It's also really noticeable that they've
18:11been out this weekend talking about their big speech that the Prime Minister is going
18:15to make on Thursday. Immigration is not going to be one of the targets they're setting themselves
18:20and so to my mind they've got some real questions to answer about how committed they are to
18:25tackling illegal immigration.
18:27With five years to go until the next election, the Prime Minister will have his work cut
18:33out for him if he wants to hit all those targets. Otherwise, Labour's newly elected
18:39MPs may be out of a job sooner than they anticipated. Oliver, lead of the sat for KMTV.
18:49Now don't forget you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by logging
18:52on to our website, kmtv.co.uk. There you'll find all our reports including this one about
18:58a community shop in Strude which has been forced to close after a backdated rent increase
19:03which is set to cost them upwards of £20,000.
19:08Strude Community Shop has been helping people who struggle to afford clothes, toys and other
19:12items since 2012, all while raising money for good causes. But when their landlord,
19:17Bampton Property, chose to increase their rent but backdate the change to 2019, it left
19:22the shop with £23,000 of rent arrears to pay. Although they managed to pay the increased
19:28rent earlier this week, they were served papers telling them they had to clear the remaining
19:32£20,000 in 21 days. Unable to do that, they decided they'd have to close up shop.
19:38I just really want to thank all the people that have supported us over the years. You
19:46know, it's been six years of hard work that's just gone down the drain. Six years of really
19:54hard work that is just going to evaporate for no reason other than, you know, that's
19:59what makes me so angry is that we paid our rent on time every time, we've worked with
20:06the landlord and if they just gave us time we'd be able to pay it all.
20:11They're like a family to me. Those are the words of just one volunteer here at the Strude
20:15Community Shop, which is closing its doors for the very last time. The shop also helps
20:19support those with learning disabilities, giving them jobs to do so that they become
20:24more employable.
20:25I've been helping at the Cunial Shop since March 2023 and they're lovely in here and
20:32it's been like a family to me because I've got autism and they've really treated me well
20:38and I really appreciate what they've, they've really helped me on my way and they're brilliant.
20:44And plus, well, it's difficult being autistic but, you know, but, you know, but it really
20:50has helped. I mean, I was, I was really scared when I came here.
20:53It's not only the staff that the store helps, having run baby banks, school uniform banks
20:58and raising funds for charity, meaning its closure could hurt the community, especially
21:03during the cost of living crisis.
21:04I'm not an expert in the kind of legal commercial rent but that does seem somewhat excessive
21:11for what is a much-loved charity shop in Medway.
21:15We contacted the Fresh Water Group, the parent company of Bampton Property, for a statement
21:19but they did not get back to us.
21:22The shop may be running discounts on their items but many will feel that there's no way
21:25to reduce the loss for the community.
21:27Finn McDermid for KMTV in Strood.
21:31Next tonight, one Christmas gift that Kent drivers might not be happy to see the return
21:35of is Operation Brock's Contraflow system.
21:39Drivers along the M20 between Maidstone and Ashford will have to find new routes from
21:42the 15th of December as the Contraflow system being introduced will see roads fully closed
21:48overnight.
21:49It will then be deployed between Junction 8 and Junction 9 and will be set to end on
21:53the 22nd of December when there will be another full closure to take the system out.
21:58The move is planned as a precaution whilst cross-channel bookings look at their busiest
22:02ahead of the run-up to Christmas.
22:04Police, paramedics, Coast Guard and fire crews were all in attendance at the Medway River
22:10this morning after a woman and her car had to be rescued from its muddy waters.
22:15The ambulance said it was called to report that a vehicle had come off the road and was
22:20partially submerged in the river.
22:22The emergency crews helped the woman to dry land with the use of a ladder and efforts
22:26to recover the vehicle were successful later in the day as they hoisted the car from the
22:30water as you can see here.
22:34The Gillingham Street Angels have set up a raffle to increase donations of one specific
22:39item this Christmas, socks.
22:41Any size, colour or thickness just as long as they're clean.
22:45In exchange the charity will give those who donate a ticket which will be drawn between
22:49Christmas and the New Year.
22:51They say a pair can be vital to keep warm, especially during the winter months, but they
22:55don't see many of them donated usually.
22:58CEO of the charity Neil Charlick hopes the raffle will encourage more people to help
23:02out their local community.
23:04Xenia Nakvi went down to find out more.
23:08The Gillingham Street Angels are urging people to donate some socks as part of their brand
23:13new Christmas appeal.
23:15So we already do a lot of stuff.
23:16We feed people, we give them hot food, hot drinks, warm clothing, blankets.
23:20The most important part of your body to keep warm is your feet.
23:23So we thought, and we don't get a lot of socks donated, we get a lot of clothes donated but
23:26not socks, but it is important to keep people's feet warm.
23:29So what we thought we'd do is we'd try and put a plea out to get socks, but to give people
23:33a bit more incentive and to try and get them and to encourage them to bring us socks we
23:36did a raffle.
23:37A lot of these people are bringing socks in, they don't want the raffle ticket, they don't
23:40want the prizes, they just know that it's a good cause and it's going to keep people
23:43warm.
23:44Gillingham Street Angels have launched a new campaign and it's all about socks.
23:47All you need to do is bring in a pair of clean socks, they don't have to be brand new, they
23:52can be any size or colour and drop them off at any of their locations, including this
23:56one here on Chatham High Street.
23:58In exchange you'll get a raffle ticket which will be entered into a Christmas draw.
24:02One pair of socks is equal to one single raffle ticket.
24:06The closing date for entries is 2pm on Tuesday the 24th of December, but all tickets must
24:12be returned by Monday the 20th.
24:15The draw will then be made on Tuesday the 31st of December and winners will be announced
24:19in the first week of January.
24:21A store assistant at one of the Gillingham Street Angels charity shops claims Midway
24:25Council doesn't do enough to help vulnerable people, meaning it's people like him picking
24:30up the slack yet again this winter.
24:33But he does look forward to seeing the difference the sock appeal will make.
24:36Maybe they can get some furniture, money, I don't know what the prices are, but there'll
24:43be good prices there.
24:44I think places like this are perfect, rather than going to the dump or landfill and things
24:49like that, it's helping the community out and it's doing people a good turn I think.
24:55Charities get any time of year, but at Christmas and it's cold like this, it's really important
25:00I think.
25:01There's a lot of people in need, so the price of heating is going up, so people are going
25:04to need any sort of help they can get really.
25:07Xenia Nakvi for KMTV in Chatham.
25:12Now as you've been hearing, Storm Darragh is expected to bring strong winds this weekend
25:16so let's take a look at the forecast where you are over the coming days.
25:24Well as expected it's looking to be a wet night tonight with temperatures staying around
25:27the 9-10 degree mark, that yellow warning issued from today until Sunday.
25:32Tomorrow morning looks to be equally rainy though, temperatures will drop slightly.
25:36Moving into the afternoon, doesn't seem to have much of an improvement.
25:40Wet day all around, still not getting much warmer than 7 degrees, those winds very much
25:44picking up.
25:45And here's the outlook for the next coming days, as we said that yellow warning staying
25:48there until Sunday, turning cloudier as we go into next week.
25:54And finally this evening, before we go it appears Mrs Claus has a sleigh of her own
25:57right here in Medway, although it does look a little familiar to some school children.
26:03ASD bus driver Tracey Robinson has been taking on the festive cheer by decorating her bus
26:08with Christmas decorations.
26:10She's turned the school transport machine into quite the Santa's grotto, featuring Christmas
26:14trees, tinsel and sparkling lights on both floors of her double decker, which has been
26:19delighting children as she drove the school run this week.
26:21Tracey or Mrs Claus will also be taking her bus to the Canterbury Christmas market this
26:26coming Monday.
26:28What a lovely story to end this week on.
26:29You've been watching Kentonite live on KMTV, there's plenty more news made just for Kent
26:34throughout the evening, but from me, goodnight.
26:51.