- 14 minutes ago
Catch up with all your latest news from across the county with Chloe Brewster.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:28Transcription by CastingWords
00:35Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight Live on KMTV.
00:39I'm Chloe Brewster and here are your top stories on Wednesday the 11th of November.
00:43Remembering the fallen. Chatham Dockyard marks Armistice Day.
00:48It's about piecing together stories, honouring the past.
00:52Falling fruit. Fathersham Farms' apple crop suffers in a drought.
00:56We're most probably down in an estimate by about 15%.
01:01And a swirl of activity. Canterbury Café hosts social drop-ins to strengthen the local community.
01:08They know that they can go somewhere and they're always going to have somebody to talk to.
01:24Our top story tonight.
01:26People from across Kent gathered at Chatham Historic Dockyard to mark Armistice Day,
01:31commemorating the end of the First World War.
01:34They came together at the National Destroyer Memorial beside HMS Cavalier,
01:39which honours the 11,000 lives lost and 142 Royal Navy destroyers sunk during the war.
01:47Those attending paid their respects and laid tributes.
01:50Our reporter Maisie Walker was there earlier.
02:06Gathering at Chatham's historic dockyard, people from across the county braved the weather
02:12to come together and mark Armistice Day,
02:15remembering those who lost their lives during the First World War.
02:18When you get a group of people gathering together to remember, that's really, really powerful.
02:25This monument represents all those who lost their lives at sea
02:32and protecting the islands during the Second World War.
02:35But I think at the moment when we hear more and more from the government and the media
02:43about war readiness, it just makes it more poignant.
02:48But as a parish priest and a chaplain, remembrance is a really important thing.
02:55It's about piecing together stories, honouring the past, but looking with hope to the future.
03:01A two-minute silence was held, and following the service,
03:05those attending were invited to lay their own tributes at the memorial.
03:09Each reef laid here is a way of remembering those who had lost their lives,
03:14and for the people attending, it's a chance to pay their respects.
03:17There was a strong turnout, with veterans, families and members of the HMS Cavalier Association
03:23coming together for the service.
03:25With distance between both the First World War and the Second World War,
03:30it's important that we honour our remembrance of those that gave up their lives for this country.
03:37And of course, it's very important for the young people coming through today.
03:42And I'm really pleased to see today young people from schools laying wreaths,
03:47which really reinforces to them the importance of what people did
03:52and in giving up their lives so long ago.
03:56With people travelling from across Kent to attend,
03:59the service was a chance for the local community to come together, reflect and remember.
04:04Maisie Walker for KMTV, Chatham.
04:13Today marks the end of the Remembrance Appeal,
04:15and it's not just the British Legion leading the way.
04:18The RNLI have launched an online exhibition to remember those who have helped in times of conflict.
04:24It features extraordinary stories from local families.
04:27We asked Alison Hume, Heritage Project Officer at the charity, about its ties to the war.
04:33So, the RNLI have been a charity saving lives at sea for over 200 years,
04:37and that includes during the conditions of wartime.
04:40So, even during the conflict where there were bombs and bullets and different kinds of situations,
04:46the RNLI crews and volunteers were still active.
04:49And at the moment, you're kind of putting together an exhibition
04:52to remember some of those people that lost their lives during World War II.
04:55Can you tell me a bit about that?
04:57Yeah, exactly like you say.
04:59When you think about people who sacrificed their time and their skills during wartime,
05:05people don't always think straight away about the RNLI crews and volunteers.
05:09So, we wanted to create a resource that pulled together some of these stories
05:13about the incredible accounts of bravery and courage that our crews did display
05:18and the dedication during that time.
05:20And one of the stories featured is the story of a Ramsgate volunteer, Annette's grandfather.
05:25Can you talk me through her story and what's her family's links to it?
05:30Yeah, so part of this project is we are trying to collect stories.
05:34And one of the stories submitted was from Annette, one of our RNLI volunteers down at Ramsgate.
05:41And it was her brother who I need to give thanks to for keeping these records together.
05:46So, their grandfather, Jack, was on the 20th of November, 1900.
05:52So, it's coming up to what would be his birthday.
05:56And during the war, he was placed on a trawler.
05:59So, their job was picking up mines to make the seas safer places.
06:04It was his 39th birthday.
06:06And in the newspaper report, he says that they were waiting for the evening
06:11for the rum ration to come around so they could celebrate their birthday.
06:14But unfortunately, they didn't make it that far.
06:17One of the mines that they were picking up detonated and he found himself in the sea.
06:23Within three minutes, the RNLI crew from Margate had already come out from the station
06:29and were arriving at the scene.
06:31So, thanks to them, Jack was picked up and managed to survive that incident.
06:36And why do you think it's important to remember stories like Annette's grandfather,
06:41especially in this day and age with so much conflict overseas?
06:45Yeah.
06:46So, during the wartime, the RNLI rescued over 6,000 people.
06:51So, those are 6,376 people that survived the conflict because of what our crews were doing
06:59during that time.
07:01And there's generations, there's families, there's people who wouldn't be here today
07:05without the efforts of our crews and volunteers.
07:09A man has died after being pulled from River Medway at Rochester Riverside.
07:14A huge emergency response, including six police vehicles, an ambulance, four fire engines
07:20and the Coast Guard were called to Blue Boar Lane following reports of concern for a person
07:25in the water.
07:25The man was treated by paramedics and taken to Medway Maritime Hospital, where he was
07:30then sadly pronounced dead.
07:32The man's death is not currently being treated as suspicious.
07:38HMP Rochester in Fort Road is set to only house male sex offenders from next month.
07:44The prison minister, Catherine McKinnell, confirmed that the prison will exclusively house men
07:49convicted of offences like rape.
07:51It's raised questions among the locals because of how close the prison is to a school.
07:56Other offenders held there could be transferred to other prisons like HMP Swaleside.
08:00The prison's minister added that the decision was done to create a more stable environment
08:04for staff and for operations.
08:08Now, breaking news to bring you.
08:1032 people have been arrested and almost £40,000 has been seized during several drug raids in
08:16Gravesend, like this one here.
08:23Police officers searched 27 properties across Gravesham and found cocaine, cannabis, illicit
08:29tobacco and an air rifle, which they say disrupted 12 county line networks.
08:34Kemp Police made 34 charges, with two men remanded in custody ahead of further court hearings.
08:40Amarildo Hebberger was arrested on the raid on the 2nd of November and admitted being concerned
08:46in the supply of cocaine, though denied possession with intent to supply cannabis and possession
08:51of criminal property.
08:53He'll be having his hearing later this month.
08:57Drug-related deaths have hit record highs in Kent this year.
09:01Drug abuse involving cocaine is now the most common, followed by heroin.
09:05But how does addiction work and what services are available to help families before it's
09:10too late?
09:11I'm joined by Dr. Julian Spinks to discuss this.
09:23Now, Julian, you're a GP.
09:25How often are you seeing people coming in with issues like addiction or having problems with
09:31drugs?
09:32It's not a very large number of people, but they do make up quite a lot of workload
09:37because they have both the direct addiction effects and also the consequences of addiction.
09:43And so, for example, someone using intravenous heroin will get things like infections and
09:48abscesses and so on as a result of injecting.
09:51And you have to remember, it's not just the drug.
09:53It can be the things it's mixed with.
09:55And it's absolutely amazing what they will mix drugs with, including things like cleaners
09:59and so on. So it's not surprising it makes people ill.
10:03And, you know, Kent is seeing a record high of drug deaths.
10:06What is it about addiction that is deadly?
10:09Is it the drugs themselves?
10:10Is it kind of the environment that you're in?
10:13You can see some of the statistics there on screen.
10:15Yeah. The answer is that these drugs, they alter typically brain chemistry.
10:21And the effect is that you then become dependent on them.
10:24If you haven't got the drug in your system, you become ill.
10:27And that's why addiction carries on.
10:29It all depends on which drug you're in.
10:31If you're looking at cocaine, that's a very strong stimulant.
10:34At the minor end of things, and it's still not minor, you can do things like damaging the
10:38septum, the division in your nose and maybe actually burn right through it.
10:41But also it overstimulates the brain and the rest of the body.
10:45So people can have things like blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and
10:50so on. And with opiates, again, injecting things, you can be injecting all sorts of mixtures.
10:56And it also causes problems like overdose where you can actually kill yourself because you're
11:02over sedating and your heart stops.
11:04And what kind of support is there available on the NHS at the moment for people who are
11:08experiencing addiction, whether that's something more serious or even something like nicotine
11:13addiction?
11:14Well, there are services for all of those things.
11:16The Public Health Department, which should actually sort of council run, do things like
11:21smoking cessation work.
11:22And some practices will do that as well to help you through the process of coming off
11:26cigarettes.
11:27When it comes to drugs, again, each area has got its own drug service.
11:31And if you talk to your GP, they'll be able to tell you where it is.
11:34You can self-refer and they will support you through the process and in some cases be able
11:39to give you some medication to help you through it.
11:42So it's not something you should suffer alone.
11:44And don't really wait until you're very much hooked and you're starting to get the complications
11:49before you seek help.
11:50Thank you so much for the advice.
11:53Now it's time for a short break, but don't go anywhere as we have plenty more news to come.
11:59See you soon.
15:24Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight, live here on KMTV.
15:28Now, a person has died after being hit by a steam train that was due to travel through Kent today.
15:36The Armistice Express was due to pass through Canterbury, Dill, Tombridge and Sevenoaks.
15:41However, the journey has been cancelled following a fatal collision at Hanmore Station in West London at around 6am this
15:48morning.
15:48They were pronounced dead at the scene.
15:51Southern Locomotives Limited, which operates the train, said our immediate thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the family and loved
15:58ones of the individual involved and the train crew who witnessed the tragedy.
16:02The incident is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.
16:10The reservoir at Buell Water has fallen below 40% full after continued dry weather.
16:16It's the largest stretch of open water in south-east England and it's important for Kent's water supply.
16:21It's usually around 60% full at this time of year.
16:26We spoke to Southern Water about what they're hoping for to fix the issue.
16:31We really do need more rain.
16:32So, yes, it has rained recently and we saw October reach long-term average rainfall, which is only the second
16:39month since February to do that.
16:40So, both June and October got above 100% long-term average rainfall, but all the other months since February
16:48haven't.
16:49And the impact of that is really, really low groundwater levels now.
16:53Something called soil moisture deficit, which is how wet the top of the ground is, is really high.
16:58And that means that when it does rain, it's more difficult for the rain to penetrate through the ground and
17:04refill our aquifers and start increasing those groundwater levels.
17:08There's lots of things you can do around the house and just generally being mindful about water and water scarcity.
17:13Well, speaking of droughts, this summer Kent saw that it's hottest on record.
17:18And for farmers, the high temperatures and lack of rainfall severely affected their harvests.
17:24At Brogdale Farm near Favisham, there are many varieties of apples suffered in those conditions.
17:30Justine Lata went to find out more.
17:32Red, ripe and juicy.
17:34That's what the apples at Brogdale Farm this year should have been like.
17:39The farm here is home to the National Fruit Collection, growing thousands of different varieties of apples.
17:46The climate the county has faced recently has led to significant changes in the farm's yield.
17:52We have no irrigation whatsoever, so we're 100% reliant on water in terms of rainfall.
18:00What that means is the fruit doesn't size up.
18:03So we had a higher percentage of smaller sized fruit than normal.
18:07And also, in terms of what we call our initial crop estimate, we're most probably down in estimate by about
18:1515% of what we anticipated we'd pick.
18:19It's apples like these ones here that have been impacted by the high temperatures and the drought that Kent has
18:25seen this year.
18:26They've changed in size, they've been sun scorched, and the picking window for them was shorter as well.
18:32So why is climate change causing these effects?
18:35We used to have, like, different period of time for winter, spring, autumn, and summer as well, so we know
18:43exactly what to grow in certain times.
18:46But because of the climate change, obviously it changed all the weather cycle, and that actually disrupts the production of
18:56the crops itself.
18:56And that means it's actually not allowing the farmers to produce as much as they used to produce before the
19:05climate change happens.
19:06According to Neil, the best conditions for growing apples here in Kent is having good soil, rain through to picking
19:13season,
19:14and warm weather in May when cell division inside an apple occurs.
19:18But he's worried about the future of Brogdale's apples if this climate continues.
19:24What happens is, as if we go out in the sun, without any sun cream on, we get sun burnt,
19:30exactly the same happens to the fruit.
19:32So there's several things that need to be looked at going forward, whether it's irrigation or hail netting,
19:38or you can actually spray a white material, kaolin clay, which is a naturally occurring product on the fruit to
19:44reduce the amount of sun scorched.
19:47The team at Brogdale Farm are now getting ready for next year's harvest, and are hoping for a more prosperous
19:53season soon.
19:54Justine Larta for KMTV in Brogdale.
19:58But will rain be in Kent's future? Let's find out.
20:06Partly cloudy skies across Kent tonight, with highs of 10 degrees in Margate and lows of 7 in Maidstone.
20:12We'll see slightly lower temperatures in the morning, with highs of 5 degrees across Dartford and Royal Tunbridge Wells,
20:18with wind speeds reaching 20 miles per hour.
20:21Partly sunny skies making their way across the county into the afternoon,
20:25with highs of 9 degrees in Margate and lows in Medway and Maidstone.
20:29Friday will be sunny with highs of 7, the weekend reaching 9 degrees with light rain on Sunday and clouds
20:36sticking around across the weekend.
20:47With fireworks season drawing to a close, many dog owners are concerned for future celebrations that involve fireworks,
20:54and while dogs face increased anxiety during this time, others say fireworks shouldn't be restricted during national holidays.
21:02Our trainee journalist Hayley Bullen spoke with pet owners in Rochester.
21:07This is my dog George, and he's been afraid of fireworks since he was a puppy.
21:13Often when fireworks go off, he runs upstairs to my parents' bed, or seeks comfort from us downstairs.
21:19And while bonfire night is underway, and many do enjoy them,
21:25often dog owners find concerns about how their dogs will react during that night.
21:30I spoke with Rob Burns, one of the owners of the Hound Height in Rochester.
21:35His three schnauzers were unfortunately caught in the crossfire of a firework fight,
21:39and are now petrified of any bangs.
21:41I'm not against kind of like everybody having fun and having fireworks and everything else like that.
21:46I love them too.
21:47I just know that the impact that it actually has on my pets is quite substantial.
21:54Maybe we have to really raise the age of who we sell fireworks to.
22:00You know, maybe 20, 25 isn't enough.
22:04Maybe we have to go even higher than that.
22:07These are explosive devices.
22:08This is not one isolated incident.
22:11Many dog owners dread firework season, knowing the impact it will have on their dogs.
22:16So they went on for about 10 days.
22:18So each night we would go out for a walk, and as soon as he heard a firework, he'd run
22:22back inside again.
22:23So I think as dog owners, if it could be just one night, that would be brilliant,
22:28because then everyone, all dog owners, would then know to stay in that one night.
22:32And the same with New Year's Eve, and then any other celebrations that need fireworks.
22:36And I do think that it should be restricted to big open spaces, rather than your neighbours being able to
22:41let them off next door,
22:42because that just, it's so loud, and that just adds to the anxiety for the dogs who are terrified of
22:49them.
22:49On average, a human can hear up to around 120 decibels without pain, while dogs can hear only up to
22:5690 decibels before they experience pain.
23:00This means that what would be equivalent to a firework for us would be a large rocket taking off for
23:05them.
23:0550% of human eardrums would rupture at this level.
23:09Their sensitive hearing, combined with their lack of understanding of what fireworks are, makes their fear even more reasonable.
23:17While pet owners across the county are worried for their animals, some may argue,
23:21is it worth changing a national holiday just for our canine companions?
23:25Hayley Bullen for KMTV in Rochester.
23:30Work has begun to clear the fire-damaged areas at the Grand Burstyn Hotel in Folkestone.
23:35A suspected arson attack caused hundreds to evacuate the lower floors of the hotel in September.
23:41Considerable damage was caused to the 14-storey building.
23:45But there is hope within the site-owner Britannia Hotels that the sections damaged can be rebuilt.
23:50Work to clear the floors damaged by the fire is underway, with a spokesperson saying that progress is being made
23:56and work is ongoing to establish the best way to rebuild it.
24:01Now festive cheer is returning to Sittingbourne as the town's high street is set to get its first ever Christmas
24:08tree.
24:08The tree, which will be installed at Bourne's Place near the railway station,
24:12was first discussed last year among council officers to try and improve the town centre.
24:18A portion of the £350,000 of government funding has been allocated to the tree
24:24to go along with annual Christmas decorations.
24:26The 16-foot tree, said to be similar to the one in Favisham,
24:30is hoping to be up for the local Christmas lights switch-on day on Saturday the 14th of November
24:36after decades of them being without a tree.
24:41Bringing people together, creating opportunities and strengthening the local community.
24:46Chatterbox Cafe in Canterbury is hoping to curb loneliness in the community.
24:52Ruby Tooley has the story.
24:54In the heart of Canterbury, one community cafe is offering more than just a place to grab a coffee.
24:59Chatterbox is bringing people together through volunteering, community events and a space where local people can connect.
25:06We've got our profit-making arm with the business.
25:09We've got properties, we've got the hotel, which is actually above the cafe.
25:13When the cafe lease came up, we couldn't find the right people to fit it,
25:18both in terms of it being good fit for the street and also good fit the hotel above.
25:24And we've always had an idea of wanting to do something in terms of giving back.
25:29Why did you feel a place like Chatterbox was needed in Canterbury?
25:34There's lots of cafes around in Canterbury.
25:38You've also got places like Lily Kitchen, the Umbrella Centre and church groups.
25:44But they're very much centred for either impoverished or people with learning difficulties or people from a religious background.
25:56And we felt there was a lot of need for other groups where it was more of an unbiased setting,
26:03a general setting.
26:04Chatterbox holds a lot of community events throughout the week, including the local U3A group who spoke to me about
26:10how they came across the cafe.
26:12Friends told me how good it was and how welcoming.
26:16So I asked if it was okay to bring a group and they said, yes, of course, we have lots
26:21of groups.
26:21Behind the cafe is a team of volunteers who give up their time to help create a welcoming environment for
26:27the community.
26:27The Chatterbox is actually a national initiative. The idea is that people who might not be able to talk to
26:36people at home or just want somebody different to talk to, they know that they can go somewhere and they're
26:43always going to have somebody to talk to.
26:46At Chatterbox is about more than coffee. It's about the people, the connections and the community that grows around it.
26:52It's Ruby Tooley reporting for KMTV.
26:56Thanks for watching tonight. I'll see you very, very soon.
27:54I'll see you very soon.
28:11I'll see you very soon.