Sittingbourne

Train services between Sittingbourne and Rainham will be stopped from 9pm tonight as Southeastern carries out emergency repair work following a landslip on an embankment in the Newington area.

A number of other trains will also be affected, including the high speed service which will now operate between St Pancreas and Rainham. London Victoria services will only run between Gillingham and London Victoria and services from Ramsgate and Dover Priory will terminate and start back from Sittingbourne.

Today (Saturday 16th January) saw the opening of Sittingbourne's COVID-19 Vaccination Centre.

The centre is located in Heather House, the Age UK charity's building, on the Avenue Of Remebrance in the town centre.

Shortly after 8:00am this morning the first Pfizer vaccination was given to an 88-year-old local lady, the first of 352 people to be seen today.

Dr Shaun Potter, Practice Manager at The Chestnuts Surgery on East Street, spoke to Tony Weaver on The Saturday Breakfast Show at 7:30 this morning, to tell our listener's more:-

Kent County Council (KCC) Trading Standards have advised that a local elderly resident has been targeted by bogus council officials into paying £4,000 for urgent home repairs.

Here's what happened:-

• Cold called by two men claiming to be from Swale Borough Council
• Told occupant that they needed urgent repairs to be carried out on their house
• The work would cost £4,000 but that they would be able to claim the money back

If this happens to you here's what to do:

The Met Office have issued a Yellow Warning regarding a band of heavy snow that may bring disruption, as it moves eastwards across the county, tomorrow (Saturday 16th January).

They warn that people should prepare for:

Kent Police officers have issued 30 fines across the county over the weekend, which included breaches at the ports, people failing to isolate, gatherings outside and indoors and unnecessary trips into the county.

Locally on Saturday (9th January) a woman, in Regis Crescent, was fined £200 for leaving her home to visit someone outside of her bubble and household and another woman was fined £200 for being outside of her home without a valid reason at Sittingbourne Railway Station.

The Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have confirmed that COVID-19 vaccinations will be given to people in Sittingbourne from this coming Saturday (16th January).

Age UK's Heather House Day Centre, on the Avenue of Remembrance, will be providing vaccinations for: The Chestnuts Surgery, London Road Medical Centre, The Memorial Medical Centre, Grovehurst Surgery, Iwade Health Centre, The Meads Medical Practice, Milton Regis Surgery, The Surgery in Teynham and The Lakeside Medical Centre.

An inquest has found the death of former Sittingbourne teacher, Carl Davies, whose body was found on an Indian Ocean island almost 10 years ago, was "unlawful killing".

The coroner ruled today (Wednesday 6th January) that  the cause of death was "serious cranial injuries" following a “vicious assault” on the 33-year-old, whose body was found in a storm drain near Lambert Barracks on the Island Of Reunion on the morning of Wednesday 9th November 2011.

As the new fast coronavirus testing station opened at Kemsley Community Centre on Ridham Avenue in Kemsley (ME10 2SF), to help bring down the infection rates in the Sittingbourne area the Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the third National Lockdown.

Today's figures were announced at 4pm today (Tuesday 5th January) and appear above.

Stay tuned to 106.9 SFM for all the information you need 24 hours a day and remember to #StayAtHome and #ProtectThe NHS and to #SaveLives.

Kent Police are looking for information following a report that a teenage boy was assaulted in Milton Regis in late November.

Police confirmed today (Tuesday 29th December) that between 7.30pm and 8.00pm on Monday 30th November a group of up to 11 young people were reported to have assaulted the victim in Milton Recreation Ground. The boy was subsequently taken to a local hospital to receive treatment for facial injuries.

Crews remain at the scene of a fire at an industrial premises on Gas Road in Milton Regis. 
 
The Kent Fire & Rescue Service (KFRS) told SFM News that: " steady progress is being made to extinguish the fire, with crews using hose reel jets to tackle the flames". 
 
People living and working in the Kemsley / Milton Regis area are being asked to keep their windows and doors closed, due to large amounts of smoke in the area.