Sittingbourne

Kent County Council (KCC) has today (Friday 4th April) confirmed all the candidates standing in the County Council Election on Thursday 1st May.

The cadidates are as follows:-

Sittingbourne North

• CARNELL, Derek William – Swale Independents
• DAVEY, Stephen Arthur – Green Party
• DENDOR, Michael Rodger – Conservative Party
• PALMER, Chris – Reform Party
• WISE, Ashley – Labour Party
• ZENG, Mary – Liberal Democrats

Sittingbourne South

Constables ordered seven people to leave areas of Sittingbourne over the weekend during a dispersal order to tackle antisocial behaviour.

Patrols working on foot in the town targeted the small number of people whose disorderly behaviour causes concern for residents and local business owners. The order was in operation between Friday 28th and Sunday 30th March and allowed officers to instruct anyone causing a nuisance to immediately leave the area. Those who choose to return faced being arrested.

Sittingbourne's Aldi store re-opened it's doors at 8:00am this morning (Thursday 13th March) following a two month extensive referbishment and upgrade.

The store, situated on East Street, has been there since 2005 and has finally seen a long anticipated expansion scheme completed over the last two months.

The plans were approved by Swale Borough Council in May 2024 and included an increase in floorspace.

The Mayor of Swale Cllr Ben Martin cut the ribbon earlier today with with two of the store's managers and welcomed the first customers through the door.

A three-month inquiry regarding the two applications known as 'Highsted Park' commenced at 10am this morning (Tuesday 11th March) at Swale House here in Sittingbourne.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service have confirmed that they were called at 5.31am this morning (Friday 7th March) to reports of a fire at a paper mill in Kemsley.  

It's believed that at the height of the fire six fire engines attended and crews, wearing breathing apparatus, used main jets to put out the flames.

There were no reported injuries and the cause is not yet known. 

Investigators are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage following a report of a serious assault in Sittingbourne in the early hours of this morning (Thursday 27th February).

Patrols were called to an injured man near Rectory Road shortly after midnight. Officers and South East Coast Ambulance Service attended the scene where the victim, who is in his late teens, was treated for an injury consistent with a stab wound. He was taken by air ambulance to a London hospital where he remains in a serious but stable condition.

After nearly four years in the heart of Sittingbourne High Street's community The Swale Media Art Centre (SMAC), at number 34, is set to close on Friday 4th April.

(Stock Picture)

Another dispersal order is in place for two days, as Kent Police target those responsible for incidents of antisocial behaviour in Sittingbourne.

The enforcement started at 7.30pm last night (Tuesday 18th February) and has subsequently been extened to operate until 7.30pm on Saturday (22nd February) evening.

It encompasses the town centre including the A2, West Street, High Street, East Street, the Sittingbourne Retail Park, Eurolink Way, Mill Way and Albany Park.

Earlier this week the Lloyds Banking Group announced that 136 of it's various high street branches will close by March 2026.

They have confirmed that whilst the Sittingbourne Lloyds Bank bramch will remain the Halifax branch at 70-74 High Street Sittingbourne will close.

They confirmed to SFM News that the date for this closure will be  Wednesday 15th October.

Lloyds announced a few weeks ago that customers of Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland will now be able to use any of the branches across any of its brands for in-person banking.

More cameras have been added to Swale Borough Council’s CCTV network to help tackle crime and keep people safe. 

Six cameras have been installed in Sittingbourne and Sheerness town centres, bolstering the existing network of more than 300 cameras across the borough already being monitored 24/7 by the council’s CCTV control room. 

An additional three rapid deployment cameras, which are mobile and can be installed in the event of an emergency or in locations that see a spike in crime, have also been purchased.