Sittingbourne

One of Kent's oldest rail bridges, at Sittingbourne railway station, has been demolished.

Network Rail engineers used a crane to demolish the original iron pedestrian bridge at the station, in St Michael’s Road, overnight (Saturday 30th January).

The Victorian foot bridge was one of the oldest in the county and was lifted out of the way and taken away for scrap.

A Network Rail spokesperson told SFM News: "it had come to the end of it's life and it was not safe to continue to use".

All care home residents and staff across the Sittingbourne area have now received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, less than two weeks after the vaccination hub opened up at Heather House.

Kent Police have confirmed that two charges have been authorised against a fraud suspect, after an elderly man from Sittingbourne was found alone in Chatham town centre.

The investigation began on Saturday 9th January after Kent Police received a call from staff at a taxi company who were concerned for a man in his 80s.

The elderly man, who was safely taken home by attending officers, reported that he had made a cash payment to a man who claimed to be from Swale Borough Council, purportedly for work to be carried out at his property.

Pizza Hut UK have confirmed that their branch, on the Sittingbourne Retail Park in Mill Way, has permanently closed.

A Pizza Hut Restaurants spokesperson told SFM News:"Unfortunately the Sittingbourne closure has been beyond our control and we are doing everything we can to redeploy our team members to other Pizza Hut Restaurants in order to minimise the impact to our workforce. We understand this is a difficult time for everyone involved and are supporting our team members as much as we possibly can."

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.