Local News

A Teynham woman has been fined £100 and ordered to pay £235 costs after household waste was found dumped by a level crossing.

Shana Dale, aged 31, of Lower Road in Teynham, was prosecuted by Swale Borough Council following an investigation into a large quantity of waste found dumped near the level crossing on Lower Road, in December 2016.

The waste comprised 12 sacks full of household, construction and demolition waste, as well as a kitchen sink and cardboard boxes.

Officers investigating the incident were able to trace the waste back to Miss Dale, and made several attempts to speak to her about the incident. At no time did she cooperate with the investigation, leaving the council no option but to prosecute.

Dale pleaded guilty to failing in her duty of care to make sure household waste was disposed of by an authorised person at Medway Magistrates Court on Tuesday 19 December. Her solicitor told the court she had paid a man £50 to take her rubbish away, and that not all the rubbish was hers.

Magistrates fined her £100, and ordered her to pay £205 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

Cllr Nicholas Hampshire, deputy cabinet member for safer families and communities at the council, told SFM News: "We take fly tipping incidents very seriously, and if you need to get rid of excess waste, it is your responsibility to make sure it is disposed of correctly, or you could end up in court. We want to catch those who are actually dumping the waste, because if they've done it once, it's likely they'll do it again. We are simply asking people to check who is taking their waste, make sure they're licenced, and keep invoices and receipts so you can help us trace them if waste is dumped."

To check whether someone is licenced to carry waste visit the Environment Agency website or you can call 03708 506506.

For more information about fly-tipping, and what Swale Borough Council is doing to tackle it, visit www.swale.gov.uk/fly-tipping.

Local MP Gordon Henderson has joined with Dover MP, Charlie Elphicke and several other Kent MPs, to send a letter to Paul Carter, Leader of Kent County Council (KCC), protesting at proposals to cut bus subsidies.

The letter called on KCC to shelve proposals to reduce bus subsidies by £4 million, cuts that could lead to the loss of some services and the reduction of others.

Mr Henderson said, "For some communities, the bus is the only lifeline to work, school, shops and services. I want KCC to think carefully before doing anything that would result in the loss of services."

In response to the MPs' letter, Mr Carter says he is taking charge personally of negotiations with bus operators to "...try to persuade them to keep a significant number of routes going. Without subsidy."

Mr Henderson added, "I recognise KCC has seen a reduction in the grants it gets from government and is struggling to balance its books. Perversely, while taking money away from councils, the government has capped the amount that can be raised from the council tax to pay for these vital local services.

"I have written to the Prime Minister's office asking that this be revisited and suggested that the cap on councils be scrapped. That would allow local authorities to raise the money they need, bringing real accountability to local government. If councils put up council tax bills by too much then the electorate will have the opportunity to sack councillors at the next election."

A traffic warden was pushed into a restaurant window while issuing a ticket to an illegally parked driver, a court has heard.

The victim was issuing the ticket in the afternoon of Friday 6th January when the car owner, Daniel Corneille of Estuary Road, Sheerness, returned to his vehicle in Sheerness High Street and became angry.

The 47-year-old was sentenced to two years in jail on Thursday (30th November) at Maidstone Crown Court after pleading guilty to grievous bodily harm without intent following the attack.

As Corneille returned to his car he saw the victim had issued him with a parking ticket because Corneille's car was blocking paving which was designed to assist blind people when crossing the road. His car was also parked on double yellow lines.

Corneille approached the traffic warden and started to shout and swear at him before he forcefully pushed him. As the traffic warden was in the middle of taking photos to evidence the offence he was not able to break his fall and fell to the floor after hitting a restaurant window. The victim tried to stand up however Corneille pushed him again causing him to fall backwards. Corneille continued to shout at the man before he got into his car and drove away.

The victim was treated by the ambulance service following the incident and later taken to a local hospital where it was confirmed he had a fractured shoulder.

Detectives investigating the incident used a recording from the victim's body worn footage and also CCTV to identify Corneille. He was arrested on Friday 13th January and later pleaded guilty to the offence.

Investigating officer, PC Jez Chittim told SFM News: "This was an unprovoked attack on the victim who was doing his job and did not deserve to be injured for this. Corneille blamed the incident on ‘having a bad day', but a lot of people have bad days and do not lose control and act in such a violent manner. I hope that this sentencing acts as a reminder to others to not behave in the same manner."

The Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) is at the scene of an HGV fire on the coast bound carriage way of the M2 between junctions 2 for Rochester and junctions 3 for Walderslade. The A229 is also cloed at The Lord Lees and Taddington Roundabouts due to big plumes of smoke moving across the carriageways. Motorists are advised to avoid the area. KFRS crews are using hose reel jets to extinguish the blaze currently. There are no reported injuries and the cause of the fire isn't known at this time.