Sittingbourne

Officers from the Kent Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU) are appealing for witnesses following the death of a pedestrian close to Sittingbourne train station at the weekend.

Police were called at around 11.25pm on Saturday (10th March) to reports of a collision involving a lorry, on St Michael's Road. Police and ambulance crews attended and a man was declared dead at the scene.

Officers from the SCIU would now like to hear from anyone who witnessed the collision, or who saw the pedestrian or lorry beforehand.

Kent Police officers have charged a man with carrying an air rifle in a public place in Faversham.

Armed police were called to the Abbey Fields area on Saturday (17th February) following reports of a man seen with a weapon.

An extensive search of the area was carried out with the aid of the NPAS police helicopter.

Further enquires led to the seizure of an air rifle and the arrest and charging of Daniel Powell, aged 35 and from St Johns Avenue here in Sittingbourne.

He has been released on bail to appear before Maidstone Magistrates Court on Friday 16th March.

Firefighters from Sittingbourne were called to a fire in the kitchen of a ground-floor flat in Whimbrel Close in Milton Regis earlier today.

The Kent Fire And Rescue Service were contacted at 12:24pm and several other flats were evacuated as a precaution.

It believed that the occupants were able to return within 45 minutes. There were no reported casualties. The cause of the fire is not yet known but it is not being treated as suspicious.

Meadowfield School, on Swanstree Avenue, could receive a boost of £3.95m towards expansion plans.

KCC (Kent County Council) Councillors will decide later this week whether the school, whose pupils are children with severe and complex needs from the ages of 4 through to 19, should increase it's size by an additional 150 pupils.

Seven men have been arrested in connection with a high value metal theft in Sittingbourne in the early hours of Sunday (14th January) morning.

Officers were alerted to a report of a burglary in the Castle Road area at around 5.24am. Two vehicles, a van and a car, were witnessed leaving the area and were later stopped on the M2 near Gillingham and four people were arrested.

A quantity of metal was found in the rear of the van by officers from Kent Police's Roads Policing Unit.

A second man has been arrested following a report of a disturbance in London Road, Sittingbourne in the early hours of this morning (Wednesday 10th January).

Officers were called to the area at 2.53am after a member of the public reported that a man had been seen in possession of a weapon.

Armed officers attended as a precaution and arrested a 33-year-old man from Sittingbourne in connection with the incident.

A second man, a 32-year-old from Chatham, has now also been arrested.

Both remain in police custody.

Shoppers in Sittingbourne will have traffic-free access to the top of the High Street on both Fridays and Saturdays, from this week.

The closure opens the way for the regular Friday Market to move to the High Street from The Forum car park in preparation for the new cinema and restaurants being built as part of the Spirit of Sittingbourne regeneration scheme.

A group of young people facing disadvantage in Sittingbourne will be mentored by world class athletes, as part of a transformational programme led by the charity of double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes.

'Get on Track' is the flagship programme of the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, which trains and develops world class athletes to empower young people facing disadvantage. This enables them to take control of their own futures and contribute positively within their local communities.

Officers investigating a report of a stabbing in Sittingbourne have charged a woman.

Kent Police were called at 7.42am last Saturday (11th November) to Bell Road following a report that a man had suffered injuries consistent with a stabbing.

Officers attended the scene and following enquiries arrested Olive Ripley, 61, of Lion Field in Faversham.

The investigation was then passed to officers from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.

Officers investigating a courier fraud in Sittingbourne have arrested a 22-year-old man from London and a local 26-year-old-woman.

A woman in her nineties reported that she had received a call from someone claiming to be a police officer who told her that her debit card had been compromised. She alleged she was told to put her debit card in an envelope. The caller then asked if she had any valuables in the house and that these would also be safer at New Scotland Yard.