Sittingbourne

A local 18-year-old football player is attracting Premier League interest in recent days.

Sittingbourne FC player Lex Allan, who lives on the Isle of Sheppey, is being tracked by top clubs Crystal Palace and Millwall.

Sittingbourne FC Secretary, John Pitts, told SFM News: "Lex is an excellent defender. He has such a great ability for his age"

Lex has also been attracting other rave reviews from the six matches that he has played for Sittingbourne.

Two burglars, who were caught on CCTV breaking into The Friends Of Wisdom Hospice's Charity shop in Sittingbourne have been jailed.

Lee Heathfield, aged 33 and Shane Baker, aged 28, entered the property in July stealing electronics and cash. Both were identified and arrested. Baker, of no fixed address, was jailed for 27 months and serial burglar Heathfield was jailed for fraud, theft and three other counts of burglary in Sittingbourne. His crimes were committed in June, July and August.

A 25-year-old man has appeared in court after being charged with burglary.

George Patching, of no fixed address, appeared before Medway Magistrates' Court on Tuesday (5th September) having been charged with three counts of burglary, one count of affray and one count of interfering with a motor vehicle.

The offences occurred in Sittingbourne, Faversham and Gillingham between Tuesday 4th July and Monday 4th September.

Local charity, Litter Angels, has registered a team of six people, including our local MP Gordon Henderson, to tackle an assault course challenge.

The team also includes Litter Angels trustees, Jess McMahon and Samantha Williams along volunteers Katherine Windsor, Gemma Bolton and Jenni Cawdell.

The challenge will be taking place on Sunday 8th October at Betteshanger Country Park near Deal and consists of over 20 different obstacles including tunnels, balance beams, water jumps and a tyre wall.

Kent Police officers, investigating a robbery at a newsagents, have released an image of a man who they would like to identify.

Kent Police were called at 9.42pm on Saturday (19th August) to a report of a robbery at a newsagents in St John's Avenue, Sittingbourne.

A man entered the shop where he is then reported to have threatened a staff member before stealing a quantity of cash and alcohol. No injuries were reported.

All over Sittingbourne students are finding out whether or not they have acquired the A-level grades they need to take the next steps in their life's journey.

Below is a look at how each school performed:

Borden Grammar School for Boys

116 students sat exams at Borden Grammar school and 64% achieved A*-C.

One pupil at the school who stood-out was Craig Clark who achieved the best results ever achieved by a single pupil.

Westlands/SCC/Swale Skills Centre

The A249 was closed for several hours earlier this afternoon (Wednesday 16th August) due to an accident involving two cars and a van on the Northbound (Sittingbourne/Sheppey) carriageway.

The accident happened shortly after 1.00pm and all emergency services attended the scene including the Kent Fire And Rescue Service (KFRS) who used hydrualic cutting gear on an overturned vehcile.

*** UPDATE *** Long delays still remain in the area on the A249, A2 and M2 - tune in to 'SFM Drivetime' for the latest.

Sittingbourne's commuters are set to be faced with a 3.6% hike for their train season tickets from January 2018.

The annual increase for regulated fares throughout the UK is based on the Retail Price Index (RPI) figure for July every year - the RPI is a measure of inflation published monthly by the Office for National Statistics - and July's was announced at 9:30am this morning as being 3.6%.

Kent Police are investigating 11 reports of thefts from vehicles in Swale over the last few days.

Officers are investigating reports of theft after seven vehicles were reported to have been broken into overnight in various areas in Sittingbourne between Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th August and between Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th August four more reports of theft were made with vehicles targeted in Sittingbourne, Iwade and Kemsley.

Parents are being asked to donate unwanted items of school uniform, making it easier for local families on low incomes to get ready for the new school year.

Last year the project saw hundreds of items of school uniform donated. Following on from this success, local churches are once more working in partnership with the council, housing association Optivo, local voluntary groups and the Neighbourhood Furniture Store to redistribute school clothes that are no longer needed.