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Catch up with all the latest news from across the county with Kristin Hawthorne.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight Live on KMTV.
00:24I'm Kristen Hawthorne and here are your top stories on Thursday 23rd October.
00:30Weather Warning. Storm Benjamin causes travel chaos across Kent.
00:34You've been blocked. We visit the school in Sevenoaks putting social media on mute.
00:39We were becoming aware that maybe they were using them when teachers weren't seeing them
00:44and through student feedback now we're aware that that definitely did happen.
00:48And Medway Melee. Fighting video game features town's legends looking to get off the ground.
00:54It's a project where we're looking at if we can use the co-creation of a video game, get people to make a video.
00:59Now, first tonight, wet, windy and really quite miserable.
01:04Storm Benjamin has brought severe wind and rain to the county causing plenty of travel chaos here in Kent.
01:10The Environment Agency issued flood alerts across Ashford, Dartford, Sevenoaks and Dungeness this morning
01:16with forecasters warning that as much as 50 millimetres of rain could fall throughout the night.
01:21We have our reporter Megan Shaw live from Medway to tell us more about the picture on the ground.
01:26So, Megan, what's the storm like now? You look like your hair is all over the place.
01:30The rain has stopped after vicious downpours all last night into this morning.
01:38As you mentioned, there are strong winds still. It's quite windy up here.
01:41But life seems to be back to normal for everyone, which is a relief, I'm sure.
01:45It's all kind of coincided with the Met Office reducing their yellow weather warnings at around 2pm.
01:50So I'd say the worst is definitely over for Kent and the wider southeast as kind of Storm Benjamin moves towards Western Europe.
01:57And why is it named Storm Benjamin?
02:00So, previously in the UK we did have Storm Amy.
02:05So it makes sense that Benjamin follows after that in like an alphabetical order.
02:09It was actually named by Matteo France, which is the French Met Office,
02:13as France thought they'd get the brunt of the storm.
02:16So that means that Benjamin won't replace Bran in the order of things
02:19and the next storm named by the UK Met Office would begin with a B, so it would be Bran.
02:24And what has the Met Office said?
02:26So this morning we got in contact with them and they said that in association with the rain,
02:32conditions are expected to be windy with a chance of gales.
02:35And they're saying that these kind of after effects of the storm,
02:38as you can see very blustery around me, will last until 9pm this evening.
02:42And I mean, from those pictures there and from where you are now,
02:45it seems like Kent's maybe got the brunt of this and this morning as well.
02:49Absolutely. So the south of England, including Kent there,
02:54experienced gusts of up to 40 to 50 mph.
02:57That peaked at around 65 mph on coastal areas.
03:01And the wettest weather in Kent saw 50mm of rainfall.
03:04That's two inches, that's quite a lot.
03:06We've seen rough seas on the coast, a lot of trees falling down,
03:10some onto buildings, some on the roads disrupting traffic.
03:13And our reporter, Chloe Brewster, kind of looked into this in more detail.
03:16Storm Benjamin has brought severe wind and rain to the county, causing travel chaos.
03:22The day began with a 6am closure of the A20 Ashford Road,
03:25following an accident likely caused by poor driving conditions.
03:28Also on the A20, the accurately named Watery Lane experienced flooding,
03:32with the road closed between Hofffield and Botters Corner.
03:35On the A2, drivers waded through surface water, as seen in this clip from a van.
03:39In the Isle of Sheppey, Halfway Road in Sheerness and Lower Road in Minster,
03:43both also saw severe flooding.
03:45In typical windy day fashion, trees were blown over across the county.
03:49Sheppey Leisure Complex in Sheerness was forced to shut after a tree fell onto the building.
03:53And there are also reports of a tree blocking the M20 London Mound carriageway near Junction 10.
03:58There was also heavy traffic on the QE2 bridge at Dartford for traffic coming from Essex, with severe queuing.
04:03Crossing the Channel, Irish Ferry has announced delays of up to 90 minutes on its services
04:07between Dover and Calais, due to the poor weather conditions.
04:10A spokesperson from Kent County Council said,
04:13KCC's highways crews have been out today working hard to keep roads clear and safe
04:17after the wet and windy weather brought by Storm Benjamin.
04:20We're asking drivers across Kent to take extra care, especially on rural roads and during the darker hours.
04:26Conditions may be tricky, with surface area, fallen leaves and debris, like branches, making driving more hazardous.
04:33Please slow down, stay alert and adjust your driving to suit what's in front of you.
04:38With the weather set to calm as the storm moves off towards Western Europe,
04:41motorists can breathe a sigh of relief going into the weekend.
04:44Chloe Brewster, KMTV.
04:46Well, next tonight, a school in Sevenoaks has become the latest to introduce a mobile phone ban for its students.
04:53Each morning, the students of Trinity School must place their phones in secure pouches that lock similarly to security tags
05:00and can only be opened at the end of the school day.
05:03It follows several schools in the county taking similar action this year in an effort to improve student focus,
05:10reduce cyberbullying and address mental health concerns.
05:14Maisie Walker has been down to the school to find out more.
05:17A school in Sevenoaks is pressing pause on phones and play on real life.
05:23At the start of this academic year, Trinity School introduced a new rule, no smartphones allowed during the day.
05:30Every morning, students place their phones into small magnetic pouches, similar to security tags, which lock automatically.
05:37The pouches are kept by the school and can only be unlocked once the day ends.
05:42The aim is simple, to reduce distractions and actively encourage students to engage with the present.
05:48Assistant head teacher, Mr Richardson, has said the results so far have been positive.
05:53We've definitely seen an improvement in the amount of reports to do with mobile phones.
05:58I'm the safeguarding lead here at the school and we've seen a decline in the amount of disclosures to do with
06:05maybe online bullying or cyberbullying or group chats.
06:09We still get a few happening, maybe in the evenings or the weekends, which have a knock-on effect and end up coming into school
06:14and we still deal with those in the right way, but we're not dealing with any that are happening during the school day.
06:19While some students were unsure at first, many now say they are enjoying school life more without the constant buzz of notifications.
06:27I think at first it was a lot of adjustment because everyone was absolutely furious.
06:32But then it changed and then now it's kind of quite unnoticeable.
06:35You just walk in, put your phone in your pouch and at the end of the day you get it.
06:38I'm for it. I think it's just going to keep improving. Each year it's about and present.
06:45The initiative has also received praise from local MP Laura Trott, who visited the school and encourages others to follow in Trinity's lead.
06:54She said it was great on a recent visit to speak with head teacher Matt Pawson and pupils to hear about the positive impact this change is already having,
07:03particularly at break times where children are now chatting and playing together rather than scrolling through their screens.
07:09A huge well done to Matt and his team.
07:12By putting their phones on silent, Trinity students are turning up the volume on learning and friendships.
07:19Maisie Walker for KNTV, Sevenoaks.
07:23Next tonight, several Reform UK councillors have lodged official complaints about the leadership style of Kent County Council.
07:30It's understood that at least five members have sent grievances to the party's head office.
07:35The development comes as KCC has become embroiled in controversy after a video of a heated virtual meeting of Reform councillors was leaked last weekend.
07:44Olly Leader has the latest.
07:46So, you're here with me now to tell us more. We've been having this discussion all week. What's the latest?
07:52Look, we know what's been happening at Kent County Council. It's yet more drama and more controversy for the leadership.
08:02It all kind of started over the weekend with this big Guardian story, this leaked meeting from August where the leader, Lyndon Kemp, Karen, was clashing with backbenchers.
08:13Come Monday, four of those backbenchers were suspended for bringing the party into disrepute.
08:20Now, the local democracy reporting service can reveal there's been five complaints made about its leadership style to head office.
08:29That's not necessarily since everything's come out. These were made during, in some cases, during that period where there were those clashes between the backbenchers and the leadership at KCC.
08:42And in some ways, I think lots of people, the complaints we spoke to, are deeply concerned.
08:49One told us this comes down to the way backbenchers feel they have been treated and how they are not listened to.
08:55They say there's a culture and a leadership style amongst those at the very top.
08:59A significant proportion of those backbenchers are not happy with. Of course, most backbenchers we've tried to speak to have remained tight-lipped about the leadership style at KCC.
09:11But these complaints have been made to head office.
09:14And what has reform said? Has there been a spokesperson that's come forward for them?
09:18So, as I said before, KCC, here in Kent at least, have remained quite tight-lipped.
09:24Earlier this week, speaking to BC Radio Kent, for example, Linda Kamkaren said it's business as usual.
09:29But a National Reform UK spokesperson, when asked about the unhappiness with KCC leadership, said,
09:36As standard, we don't comment on internal complaints.
09:40Which, to be fair, is a common practice in most political parties, be it Labour or the Conservatives as well.
09:47But it doesn't necessarily address the full scope around the suspensions.
09:52As I said before, Reform UK say these four suspended members have brought the party into disrepute.
09:58You can see them on screen now.
10:00But when we spoke to one of the complainants, they said there is little, if any, firm evidence to support the accusations against the four councillors.
10:11In fact, they say if they have a list of people who at least like to have leaked the video to The Guardian, they'd be on that list.
10:17And for their credit, when we spoke to Paul Thomas earlier this week, he said he'll be exonerated, hopefully.
10:24He said he's working with the investigation.
10:27Maxine Fothergill was in tears at County Hall saying he'd done nothing wrong.
10:31Bill Barrett, we tried to approach him for comment.
10:34He's not going to comment at this time.
10:36And neither is Oliver Bradshaw.
10:38He's been approached for comment.
10:40Haven't heard anything from him.
10:42But it does seem to be many of these people who have been suspended say they're innocent.
10:48These complaints show there is an unhappiness with the leadership.
10:51But naturally, I'm sure if we had Lyndon on the sofa with us right now, she would be disagreeing with us.
10:58Because obviously, leaders in big political organisations like KCC have to make the tough decisions.
11:03That's her view, as we heard in that meeting that was leaked by The Guardian.
11:06Yeah.
11:07And then just quickly then, can you tell us what's next?
11:09Should the people of Kent be worried about this?
11:12It's an interesting one, what's next?
11:14Because we never really know in a situation like this.
11:17Obviously, Kent County Council, the big priority coming up is the budget.
11:21There's lots of speculation.
11:23Will KCC have to raise council tax?
11:26Reform UK have said they want to cut costs.
11:29Will they be forced to bring that money up?
11:31That will be a big bugbear for many people here in the county.
11:35Thank you, Oli.
11:36We will continue that as it continues.
11:38Now, time for a quick break coming up.
11:40But don't go anywhere as we'll be hearing more about emergency services responding to your laureate light on the A2.
11:46See you then.
11:56See you then.
12:26Bye.
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14:59Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight Live on KMTV.
15:14Now, emergency services were called to a lorry fire on the A2 early this morning.
15:19Five fire engines, a bulk water carrier and a hype vehicle appeared at the scene outside the inn on the Lake Hotel.
15:27Following the incident, there were delays on the coastbound carriageway between Shorn and Cobham.
15:31Meanwhile, a section of the A2 was shut between Gravesend and the M2 link, with drivers facing a diversion.
15:38It took more than three hours to bring the fire under control, but the cause of it is not yet known.
15:43The road is now fully reopened, however, and there are no reported injuries.
15:47Now, pummelled by sand during the day, facing frosty temperatures at night for 100 kilometres in just five days.
16:03Camilla Setton from Rochester will be taking on this huge undertaking in a few weeks' time,
16:08all to raise money for the breast cancer awareness charity Copperfield.
16:12She is dedicating this mission to her late husband and fiancé, who both passed away from the disease.
16:17And she joins me now to talk more about it.
16:20So, tell me, we've got a picture of your fundraiser here.
16:23Start off by telling me a bit about it and why you've done it in a bit more detail.
16:27OK, so Copperfield, this is the charity which is to be able to create awareness for breast cancer in young adults, both male and female.
16:36So, Giofani Fletcher is going to be heading it.
16:40I applied for this last year.
16:42Thousands of people applied.
16:43I didn't know whether I'd get in, but I got an email in December saying,
16:46you are going to the Sahara.
16:48So, I have been working for the last 25 years with cancer patients, primarily women,
16:55because I set up my clinic 25 years ago to be able to do tattooing,
17:00which is medical tattooing of the nipple and the areola,
17:03for ladies who've gone under mastectomies and lumpectomies.
17:07So, yes, I've been doing that for 25 years now.
17:10And what kind of effect has that had on the women?
17:12I can imagine it would be quite a huge thing for them to be able to do that.
17:14Yeah, it's what I call the gift of confidence.
17:17So, it's hugely visible and physical, but it's massively emotional, being able to give them that confidence.
17:24And, I mean, overall, we do hear a lot about cancer and breast cancer.
17:28What kind of, what categories of that do you think need more awareness?
17:32I mean, there's the stuff with men as well.
17:34Yeah, absolutely, male and female.
17:36It's just becoming more and more prevalent, and I think, and younger and younger.
17:40I mean, there are people as young as 24 who are on this trek.
17:44I think 85% of the people on the trek have been through cancer, going through cancer, going through treatment,
17:50as young as 24 and older.
17:52When I was younger, it was always very much, oh, that's actually old women who get breast cancer.
17:57But, no, it's not.
17:58And what should people be looking for?
18:00There is a link on the Copperfield website, which is Check Your Breasts.
18:05And it's being able to show you a video of being able to, how to actually check your breasts and to do it regularly.
18:11People just don't do this.
18:13And so, tell us more about what you're going to be doing in the Sire Desert.
18:16You've got your lovely t-shirt here.
18:18Yeah, that's my trek t-shirt I will be wearing.
18:20This is what you're going to be wearing on the, how many days is it going to take?
18:22It's over five days where we'll be trekking.
18:24So, we fly out on the 8th of November, which is actually quite a prevalent date for me
18:29because when I lost my late fiancé 25 years ago, I opened the doors of my clinic on the 8th of November,
18:35which is exactly the same day as we're going.
18:37So, it's quite sentimental.
18:38Yeah, we fly out to Marrakesh.
18:41And then on the Saturday, we have an eight-hour journey into the desert.
18:46And then we trek for three days and then we go to base camp where we're going to be sleeping.
18:51And temperatures are going to be quite low.
18:53So, packing that kit bag is thermals as well as SPF 50 sunscreen.
18:58I know that's the thing because the temperatures in the desert are just mad.
19:03So, I mean, how are you going to prepare?
19:05I mean, what sort of things are you going to be thinking about when you're walking
19:08or are you just going to enjoy the time?
19:10You tell me what I'm going to be thinking about.
19:12I'm with 120 other people.
19:13So, we'll be getting to know all our teammates and it will be anything and everything.
19:18Everybody telling their stories and it will be lifelong friends when we come back.
19:22And then, how can local communities help to bring awareness for the charity?
19:26They can support by looking at my Copperfield JustGiving and also going onto the Copperfield website.
19:35I talk about it all day, every day.
19:38Not just the trek, but I've been doing this for 25 years.
19:41So, I think it's just creating the awareness and people being in an informed position to understand what they have to do.
19:46Checking their breasts.
19:48And so, over those 25 years, I can imagine you've obviously helped a lot of men and women.
19:54Is there a lesson that you've learnt from anybody?
19:56Have you spoken to anybody that can maybe help people at home if they're struggling?
20:00I would think it's the support.
20:03I mean, the teams in the hospitals and the consultants are absolutely amazing.
20:06Macmillan.
20:07And I say it's creating the awareness.
20:10It's to talk about it.
20:11Definitely to talk about it.
20:13To share it.
20:14And checking, checking, checking.
20:17Yeah.
20:18Okay.
20:19Well, best of luck on your journey.
20:21And we'll have to catch up when you've done it.
20:22Yeah, thank you.
20:23But very excited for you.
20:24And we'll chat to you then.
20:25Thank you very much.
20:27Now, a recap of your sports headlines from across the county with Alfie Rowe.
20:39We'll get to that in just a second.
20:40I think we're having some technical difficulties here.
20:43We'll have that now.
20:48First up in football and Gillingham have successfully appealed the red card shown to fullback Ramal Hutton during Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Grimsby Town.
21:00With the fullback now allowed to appear in this weekend's clash against Salford City.
21:04The defeat against the Lincolnshire side last Saturday saw Hutton given a straight red for a foul on Ramina striker Jays Kabir, supposedly denying a goal-scoring opportunity.
21:14This provides some consolation for Jill's fans, with two other players already set to miss out this weekend through suspension, with defender Sam Gale picking up his fifth booking of the season and midfielder Johnny Williams, who was also shown red at Grimsby.
21:27Continuing with football, Chatham Town boss Kevin Haig has described their matchups as a great advert for Isthmian Premier Football.
21:34This comes after successive home draws in the league against Dulwich Hamlet and Cray Wanderers.
21:39Third place Chats drew 0-0 against Dulwich on Tuesday and also drew 3-0 against Cray Wanderers on Saturday in front of a packed crowd.
21:47Attention now turns to the Chats match against Ithmur North side Walton Abbey this weekend for the FA Trophy first round before their box office match against Buxton in the FA Cup first round next Saturday.
21:58In cricket news, Kent all-rounder Joe Denley signed a one-year contract extension, making 2026 his 20th season with the club.
22:05The 39-year-old has spent virtually his entire career with Kent, becoming its highest T20 run scorer with 4,985 runs from 185 matches.
22:16Going into 2026, his focus will be on the upcoming Vitality T20 Blast competition, which they last won in 2021.
22:23Denley's new deal also includes a mentoring role where he'll be supporting new batting coach Jahid Ali alongside his playing commitments.
22:31And finally, in rugby, youngsters from Vigo and Canterbury Rugby Clubs have taken part in the latest annual Defender Rising Stars Cup.
22:38The initiative, hosted by Premier side Saracens in partnership with Prem Rugby, is one of a series across the country that gives under-11s and 12s the chance to experience a professional rugby environment.
22:49For the under-11s, Vigo thrived, taking the top honours. Meanwhile, the under-12s sides competed for the top spot in their age group.
22:56That's all for now. More sports stories from across Kent tomorrow.
23:00And now, don't forget you can keep up to date with all our latest stories across Kent by logging on to our website at kmtv.co.uk.
23:18There you'll find all our reports, including this one, about a man's mission to walk to all 92 professional football clubs in just 92 days.
23:26We've got a chance to meet him at Pressfield.
23:30How much do you love the beautiful game? Enough to walk 1,600 miles, the equivalent of 61 marathons every day for more than two months?
23:38No, me neither. But that's what one football fan, Xavier Wiggins, is doing.
23:42Walking across the country to each of the 92 professional stadiums in 92 days.
23:47And if he succeeds, he'll be the first in history to complete the challenge, and he's just arrived at Priestfield, making it his 71st stadium.
23:54All to highlight the work that football clubs do for their community.
23:57I'm on day 74. Here at Gillingham is ground 71. Done, I think it's 1,600 miles, about 3.5 million steps.
24:09And I'm doing it specifically to shine a light on the good stuff that football is doing.
24:15Because they're not bankrolled by the football clubs, whether it's the Manchester United Foundation or Gillingham.
24:20They're not bankrolled, they're standalone charities, and they need the support of the community because they're supporting that community as well.
24:27If I were to go up to a random football fan on the street and ask them, how is your club doing at the moment?
24:32They might tell me about the growing injury list, their concerns with the new manager, or maybe last Saturday's result away.
24:37But what Gilles and Xavier are keen to change is they want people to be more aware of the charity and community efforts that their clubs are doing off the pitch.
24:45There's community programmes going on. It's working with a variety of different entities around the community.
24:51As Xavier mentioned, whether that's kids football where we want to create a lasting habit of enjoying physical activity and have a lifelong association with the national game.
25:00Whether it's in schools encouraging positive behaviour and fulfilling their potential through the educational routes.
25:06Or it can be a real positive impact on bringing communities together that need a bit of support with actual mental health or various other challenges in their life.
25:16And football can bring those people together.
25:18The Gillingham Foundation are still in the process of applying for charity status, but are focusing on their community efforts,
25:23including holding a yearly grassroots youth football tournament at Priestfield.
25:27Xavier's got 21 football clubs left to go after the Gilles, and so far he's raised more than £13,000 towards his £20,000 goal, all going to football-based charities.
25:37He'll be ending his walk at Plymouth's Holm Park, which would make him the first to visit the 92 stadiums in 92 days.
25:43Finn McDermott for KMTV in Gillingham.
25:46Well, how brilliant that Kent is filled with such active people that are willing to support charity.
25:56But now, we had a look at the weather earlier with Megan, but let's take a look at the weather forecast.
26:06Looks like tonight you can expect cold, cloudy this evening with highs of 8 degrees in Margate and lows of 6 degrees in Ashford and Tunbridge Wells.
26:13Into tomorrow morning, then, we've got a range of 6 to 7 degrees with wind speeds of 13 to 16 miles per hour.
26:20Tomorrow afternoon, then, we have got 11 to 12 degrees range, so it'll be nice and mild.
26:26On Saturday, we've got partly cloudy skies, 11 degrees.
26:30Sunday, clear skies, 10 degrees.
26:32Back to partly cloudy skies on Monday, 13 degrees.
26:36Well, that's what we've got for this part of the show, but we'll be coming back in just a few minutes for more, so we'll see you then.
26:48Bye-bye.
26:49Bye-bye.
26:50Bye-bye.
27:19Bye-bye.
27:49Bye-bye.
28:19Bye-bye.
28:49Bye-bye.
29:19Bye-bye.
29:49Bye-bye.
29:50Hi-bye.
29:51Bye-bye.
29:52Bye.
29:54Bye-bye.
29:56Bye-bye.
29:57Bye-bye.
29:58Bye-bye.
29:59Bye-bye.
30:05Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight Live on KMTV.
30:13KMTV. I'm Kristen Hawthorne and here's a recap of your top stories on Thursday
30:17the 23rd of October. Weather Warning. Storm Benjamin wreaks chaos travel
30:24across Kent and you've been blocked. We visit the Skull and Sevenoaks putting
30:28social media on mute. And Medway Melee. Fighting video game features towns
30:34legends looking to get off the ground. But now wet, windy and really quite
30:40miserable. Storm Benjamin has brought severe wind and rain if I could say it
30:44to the county causing plenty of travel chaos here in Kent. The Environment Agency
30:49issued flood alerts across Ashford, Dartford, Sevenoaks and Dungeon S this
30:54morning with forecasters warning that as much as 50 millimetres of rain could fall
30:58throughout the night. We are joined now by our reporter Megan Shaw live from Medway
31:03to tell us more about the picture on the ground. Looks a bit darker than it did
31:07earlier. Megan, how's the how's the storm looking now? As I said before, the rain
31:13has finally stopped, which is a big relief. We've got our umbrellas away now. The wind
31:17still, it's still quite gusty if you can see the state of my hair at the moment. But
31:23again, things are starting to get back to normal for the people of Kent, which is a
31:26relief. It's quite chilly up here. There's a bit, it's quite cold. But overall, I'd say
31:32definitely conditions are improving. It has coincided with the Met Office reducing their
31:37yellow weather warning at around 2pm today. So we can definitely say that the worst is
31:42over for Kent and the wider southeast of England as Storm Benjamin has crossed the channel and
31:47has now gone on towards Western Europe, countries like France and the Netherlands.
31:52And can you tell us again why it's called Storm Benjamin?
31:54So previously in the UK, we did have Storm Amy. So it does make sense that Benjamin follows
32:02in alphabetical order there. It was originally named by Matteo France, which is the French
32:06equivalent to the Met Office. Because they thought, France thought they'd get the worst
32:11of the storm. But it also means that in the United Kingdom, Benjamin is not going to replace
32:15Bram, which was lined up to be the B as the name of storms for this season. So our next storm
32:22will begin with a B, not a C. Oh, and what has the Met Office said?
32:28Well, we contacted the Met Office this morning as conditions were starting to brighten up a
32:32little bit. And they let us know that in association with rain, conditions are expected to be windy
32:39with a chance of gales, initially along southern and eastern coasts, but more widely across Britain
32:44during the day. Heavy rain is expected to continue all day until 9pm this evening. And we can see
32:50that. We've still got that wind there. We might be without the rain, but we can still see the
32:54remnants of a storm in the air.
32:56And Kent really seemed to feel the brunt of it last night and this morning, didn't it?
33:01Absolutely. So the south of England, including Kent, experienced gusts of wind between 40
33:07and 50 miles per hour, all the way up to 55 miles per hour on coastal areas, or 65, my correction
33:14there. So very strong, very windy there. The wettest weather in Kent, so almost 50 millimeters
33:20of rain outfall. That's two inches. So it's really wet. It caused a lot of disruptions up
33:25and down Kent. There was rough seas along the coasts. There was lots of trees falling down,
33:30disrupting buildings and some onto roads, further disrupting the traffic. So there's a lot of
33:35issues there. And we did some further investigating with Chloe Brewster, our reporter, and she looked
33:41further into these road incidents and these traffic pileups across Kent.
33:46Storm Benjamin has brought severe wind and rain to the county, causing travel chaos. The day began
33:51with a 6am closure of the A20 Ashford Road, following an accident likely caused by poor driving
33:56conditions. Also on the A20, the accurately named Watery Lane experienced flooding, with the road
34:01closed between Hofffield and Botters Corner. On the A2, drivers waded through surface water, as seen
34:06in this clip from a van. In the Isle of Sheppey, halfway road in Sheerness and lower road in Minster,
34:11both also saw severe flooding. In typical windy day fashion, trees were blown over across the
34:17county. Sheppey Leisure Complex in Sheerness was forced to shut after a tree fell onto the building,
34:22and there were also reports of a tree blocking the M20 London bound carriageway near Junction 10.
34:26There was also heavy traffic on the QE2 bridge at Dartford for traffic coming from Essex,
34:30with severe queuing. Crossing the Channel, Irish Fairways has announced delays of up to 90 minutes
34:35on its services between Dover and Calais, due to the poor weather conditions.
34:38A spokesperson from Kent County Council said,
34:41KCC's highways crews have been out today working hard to keep roads clear and safe after the wet
34:46and windy weather brought by Storm Benjamin. We're asking drivers across Kent to take extra care,
34:52especially on rural roads and during the darker hours. Conditions may be tricky, with surface area,
34:57fallen leaves and debris, like branches, making driving more hazardous. Please slow down,
35:03stay alert and adjust your driving to suit what's in front of you.
35:05With the weather set to calm as the storm moves off towards Western Europe,
35:09motorists can breathe a sigh of relief going into the weekend. Chloe Brewster, KMTV.
35:15Now, Folkestone's Napier Barracks, which has been housing asylum seekers since 2020,
35:20is set to be emptied by the end of the year. The Home Office says it plans what it's called
35:25a complete site decant of the former army barracks by the end of December. It will then hand the land
35:33back to the Ministry of Defence before passing it to Taylor Wimpey to redevelop the site for housing.
35:40Previously, the government said it would stop using the site by March this year,
35:44before extending the deadline to September. Multiple protests have been held outside the barracks
35:49in the past five years, including anti-immigration demonstrations last month.
35:55Next, the development company have kick-started their bid to build a 250-home estate in Faversham.
36:03Alongside the houses, proposals include new access roads, parking and a public open space alongside
36:10Broggdale Road, but an official planning application hasn't yet been published. Permission homes are awaiting
36:17a response from Swale Borough Council on environmental issues and other factors impacting the proposals.
36:23Several outstanding applications for thousands of new potential homes are still waiting to be
36:28authorised by the council. And next, plans to rip out acres of Canterbury orchards for a vast new
36:36housing estate have sparked a backlash and set campaigns to protect the area. The farmland
36:42south-east of Winsheep is earmarked for the development of 2,000 new homes in the city's
36:49council draft local plan, which has set shockwaves through the community. The scheme is part of the
36:54proposed Merton Park development plan, which includes a new sports hub, but residents are appealing to
37:00council bosses to reconsider the scale and allocation of the project.
37:05Now, RSPCA staff across Kent and the south-east are urging people to consider adopting a big dog as
37:13part of the charity's annual Adopt-tober Rehoming campaign. This July alone, there were more than
37:191,600 dogs being looked after, more than double the number recorded in July 2020. The focus is on big
37:26dogs as they can wait seven times longer than smaller dogs to find a forever home, according to the charity.
37:32Earlier today, we spoke to Darren Parrish from the RSPCA to find out a bit more about it.
37:38Thanks so much for joining us this evening, Darren. First of all, can you tell me what Adopt-tober is
37:42and why you're looking for more fosterers?
37:45Yeah, certainly. So Adopt-tober is the RSPCA's annual push to try and look for
37:50homes for unwanted animals. So we do a big push throughout October to try and find homes for,
37:56in particular, animals we're struggling to find those right matches for those right homes.
38:00And why specifically in October do you do that outreach?
38:06So what we tend to find is, during the summer months, that the number of people coming forward
38:10to adopt just drops off because people are planning holidays, they're not around,
38:15so they're not thinking about necessarily adding to their family.
38:17And if people are watching at home and they're thinking of adopting a pet,
38:21what would the criteria be for a good adoption?
38:24So what we say for a good option for any animal, really, whether it be dog, cat,
38:30rabbit, or even a horse, because the RSPCA does every single animal, is really just thinking about
38:36the animal that suits you. So rather than thinking about, oh, I want a tabby cat, I want a black
38:42Labrador, think about actually what you can offer and what animal is going to suit your circumstances
38:48best. And that's what we do. We don't really have fixed criteria. It's about finding the right
38:54match of animal for each individual adopter. And so for some people, having a cat, a dog in a flat
39:01without a garden will be fine. It's about finding that right match rather than having specific requirements.
39:06Is that the same kind of criteria as a fostering, if you're going to be fostering, or is it different?
39:14Yeah, no. So we apply exactly the same criteria. The only difference is with fostering, you are
39:19providing short-term care for an animal. So if you have a spare room in your house where maybe you could
39:25have a cat or two and temporarily look after them for the RSPCA, or if you think, oh, actually,
39:31do you know what? I work from home a lot. I can't afford to have my own dog, but I could provide care
39:36for a dog that needs sort of respite from an environment like this, or might be part of an
39:40ongoing prosecution case, then that's where the fostering comes in. And the really good thing
39:45about fostering is it can really suit people that do have time and space, but don't necessarily have
39:50the ability to commit to long-term sort of adoption of an animal. And if you have got any issues around
39:56sort of cost of feeding an animal or veterinary costs, then we cover all those costs whilst you are
40:02fostering that animal. And then fostering is a shorter period of time, obviously, than adopting.
40:07What is the typical length? Because, you know, if people are going to commit themselves to this,
40:10could it be a year? Could it be a month? So we put animals in foster for various different reasons.
40:16So sometimes it can just be because we need to find a little bit more out about that animal.
40:21It might be they're recovering from some sort of surgery operation. So then it could be really short
40:26term just for a couple of weeks. Sometimes it can be a year, over a year, because of the unique side
40:31of what the RSPCA does, where we're prosecuting people who have caused harm to animals. Those animals
40:37often need to stay in care for some period of time whilst we're going through the legal processes.
40:41And so then it can be up to up to like a year over that people could be fostering for.
40:46During the summer, you had the biggest influx of dogs to the RSPCA. Do you know what kind of
40:50contributed to that? Yeah, so the key things that contributed to that was the
40:55fact that we picked up a number of large welfare cases where there were hundreds of dogs involved
41:02in those individual cases. And that just put us into that sort of that real crunch point.
41:07Again, it's the unusual thing about the RSPCA when we knock on a door where we've had a complaint
41:12about cruelty or neglect. We can walk in and there might only be one or two animals,
41:17or we can walk in and there could be hundreds of animals. And then we have to flex and adapt
41:21to that situation we're finding. Interesting. Well, thank you so much,
41:25Darren, for joining us and hopefully we'll get some people adopting.
41:30Well, that's all we have for this part of the show, but we'll be back in just a few minutes for
41:34more while we will be talking about a street artist who has paid a tribute, who's painted a tribute
41:39for Canterbury, for Canterbury's, I can't say this, Canterbury's gallivanting griffin. You'll hear
41:45all the more, oh, can't speak. I'll see you in a few minutes. Bye bye.
42:09Bye bye.
42:39Bye bye.
43:09Bye bye.
43:39Bye bye.
43:40Bye bye.
44:09Bye bye.
44:10Bye bye.
44:39Bye bye.
44:40Bye bye.
45:10Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight Live on KMTV. Now, a mural of Canterbury's beloved
45:17gallivanting griffin has been painted to pay tribute to the adventurous cat.
45:22Griffin died on October the 6th after being run over on the University of Kent campus,
45:26where he often paid a visit. Thousands of local fans expressed their heartbreak over his death,
45:31saying a memorial was necessary. So to commemorate the friendly cat, Catman,
45:36a graffiti artist from Whitstable has spread an image of griffin in Northgate. There,
45:40you can see it there. More than £3,000 have now been raised to fund a memorial bench on the
45:44University grounds. But now, don't forget you can keep up to date with all our latest stories
45:49across Kent by logging onto our website kmtv.co.uk. There you'll find all the reports about this one,
45:55about post boxes that have been vandalised in Dartford, some of which were never repainted
46:00years later, and others targeted again by copycat vandals. Take a look.
46:04I'm here on the streets of Dartford, where these post boxes have been causing quite a stir.
46:09Now it's been a year and a half since 38 post boxes in the Dartford area were vandalised.
46:14Some spray painted in gold, just like this one, and others were slightly more interesting.
46:19A Cadbury's Cream Egg and Mr Blobby. These are just some of the varied designs Danny Wiskin,
46:23a 34-year-old from Chaucer Way in Dartford, left on post boxes in this town last year.
46:28Gold was the most popular design of choice by Wiskin, emulating those featured in the home
46:32towns of 2012 Olympic medal winners. While many of the vandalised post boxes were repainted back
46:37to their familiar bright red base, it seems the designs unleashed a wave of copycat vandal van
46:42goffs. I did actually think they looked alright, but at the same time not, because it's public
46:47property at the end of the day, and obviously that's royal mail. It actually looks very tatty,
46:51makes the town look untidy. Yeah, I must admit, I don't think that they look good at all.
46:57Well I think they brighten the place up a bit actually. I know you're not meant to do it,
47:01but I think they look quite good. I hesitate to actually put anything in them because they do
47:07this, because I think if they do that on the outside, are they going to be vandalised?
47:10They're vandalised inside. A Royal Mail spokesperson said,
47:14we are aware of the vandalised post boxes and are arranging for them to be repainted. Royal Mail
47:19regularly inspects and maintains all its post boxes across the UK. Any that are damaged or vandalised,
47:25added to our maintenance programme and repainted as soon as resources and weather conditions allow.
47:30But what do the people of Dartford want done with their post boxes?
47:33The art could be better, and if it's not going to be excellent, then I think
47:39the traditional post box would impress people more.
47:42I don't mind them. If they were professionally painted, and they looked very professionally done,
47:49then I've got no objection. I still think they should be read.
47:52Oh yeah. Public holidays for a year day, stuff like that, you could do something with them.
47:57Invite banks, see.
47:58Whether you're missing the familiar read, or feel the post boxes have become part of the culture here,
48:03we're sure Royal Mail are hoping no more repainting bills arrive in the post.
48:07Chloe Brewster from KMTV in Dartford.
48:10Now it's time to take a look at the weather for the coming days.
48:13What's the weather for the coming days?
48:19Expect clouds this evening with highs of 8 degrees in Margate and lows of 6 degrees in Ashford and
48:24Tambridge Wells. Then into tomorrow morning, we will have 6 to 7 degrees across the county,
48:30looks like clear skies as well. Then into tomorrow afternoon, we'll have a range of 11 to 12 degrees,
48:35partly cloudy skies, although clear over in Dover. And then the outlook, we will have 11 degrees,
48:41partly cloudy skies on Saturday, clear skies 10 degrees on Sunday, and then back to cloudy skies on
48:46Monday, 13 degrees.
48:48Now, Mario has the Mushroom Kingdom, Sonic has Green Hill Zone, but could Medway put itself on
49:01the map as an iconic video game location? Medway Fighter is a classic arcade-style fighting game
49:07featuring historic Medway characters, and a prototype of the game will debut at this weekend's
49:12Electric Medway Festival. Vin McDermott has been speaking to the developer to find out more.
49:21Kent is known for a lot of things, like its sprawling countryside or deep history,
49:25but you might not know that it's the setting for several video games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla
49:29or the Dirt Rally racing game. And this weekend, one more will be added to the county's tally.
49:35Medway Fighter is a prototype of an arcade-like fighting game where players can take control of
49:39Medway's historic figures like Charles Dickens or Thomas Waghorn.
49:43So I was very interested in how we could use experimental means or unconventional means to
49:49get people to engage with the arts. So what Medway Fighter is, is it's a project where we're looking
49:54at if we can use the co-creation of a video game, get people to make a video game about the place that
49:59they're from, to get them a little bit more interested in their cultural heritage and their history.
50:03The game is set to make its debut at the Electric Medway Festival this weekend,
50:07appearing as a range of games, animation and music for the 10th anniversary of the event.
50:11Now we weren't allowed to see certain parts of the game as it's still being worked on ahead of its reveal.
50:17Now there are currently only two game characters that we know of and that's Rochester's famous author
50:21Charles Dickens and everyone's favourite cone-headed statue of Sir Thomas Waghorn.
50:26So I thought I'd take a look at what I might look like in the game world.
50:37Players can take control of the pen-wielding Dickens or the brawler Thomas Waghorn but it
50:41doesn't end there with the community being invited to get involved with their own ideas
50:45ahead of the game's full release in 2027.
50:53Now that character is my own creation and the characters in the game will have much more personality,
50:58colour and pixels. Since the game is currently a prototype, it won't end with just the two characters.
51:04As the creator is asking for people to come up with their own ideas for fighters or
51:08non-player characters to cheer them on.
51:10So we've had about 200 participants so far in the project nominating different characters and we've
51:15had about 100 characters nominated. We're launching the prototype with Charles Dickens and Thomas
51:21Waghorn. Very likely to enter the game as well will be Will Adams, the first non-Japanese samurai that
51:27the HBO show Shogun is centred around. So in addition to playable characters, one thing
51:32we're also involving in the game is there's going to be an open world mode where people can wander
51:37around the Medway towns and meet not just historical figures but also local heroes that are nominated
51:42by participants. The Electric Medway Festival celebrates digital art and culture within the
51:47community and will have local people play testing Medway Fighter alongside the other games made for
51:51the event like Aurora Mythology, Highway to Infinity and Forest Keep, an augmented reality game set at
51:57Rochester Cathedral. Well with all these titles hitting the county this weekend it looks like
52:02Kent is fighting to become England's next gaming hotspot. Finn McDermid for KMTV in Chatham.
52:07Well now from video games to film we are joined by Chris to speak all things about video game
52:15adaptations Back to the Future turning 40 and to see what films you should be seeing in cinemas over
52:21the coming weeks. Well Chris combining nostalgia and entertainment video game film adaptations have took
52:29storm in cinemas in the past few years, Super Mario movie, Sonic the Hedgehog. I mean you've got a whole
52:34list here. What is the key to making a good video game film? Well I was thinking about this in relation
52:40to Five Nights at Freddy's because there's a sequel out and it's funny you talk about Back to the Future
52:44being 40 years because Five Nights at Freddy's is a very sort of nostalgia going back to the 80s very
52:50analogue world with an 80s soundtrack and it's almost like you know everything there even down to the
52:55puppets it feels like it's a video game but it's the sort of video game that in the 1980s
53:01before we went fully you know HD and digital as it would have been seen so there's something very
53:06retro about that and I think that's part of the appeal in a lot of these films even things like
53:10Sonic the Hedgehog there's this you know they're accommodating to older members of the audience
53:16who might be watching and thinking oh I remember the games that we used to play when we were young
53:20that kind of thing so it kind of feels that the best video games are the ones that remind us of an age
53:28before the video games of today existed which is kind of ironic but you just just go through all
53:33of the films all the video games and the adaptations they're suffused even the Steven Spielberg film
53:39that he made a few years ago which is all about you know the world of video games it's all retro and
53:45it's all 80s. Is there any apart from Five Nights at Freddy's that stand out to you as being a really good one?
53:50Well that's a good question because so many of them is anything like Ghostbusters a lot of them you
53:55see are films that are turned into video games and I'm not really a gamer but I know a lot of people
54:00who get really excited when these sort of come out so obviously Super Mario Brothers is the is the
54:05really obvious one I think. And then one notable example is Ready Player One facilitating Easter eggs
54:11and cameos from across pop culture does this subtract originality from the film or provide
54:17substance to the narrative? What a brilliant question that's the Steven Spielberg I was just
54:21thinking of and it's so interesting because Spielberg we think of something like Jaws which is in a way
54:26building up the tension and Ready Player One is this really fast moving digital world as you said
54:32with all those Easter eggs in it and that sort of interchangeable world very digital very high tech
54:38but with story at its heart you see it's so in a way it's unmistakably a Spielberg film
54:42but it's Spielberg making the sort of films that he wasn't really making in the 80s because you
54:47think of all the Indiana Jones films and you think of uh all the sort of you know obviously he's done
54:53war films saving private Ryan but you think of all the sort of films that we associate him with
54:56and in a way story is always at the very heart of those so he brought that to gaming and really said
55:02is it really all that different you know do we want a good story to tell that maybe goes on with
55:07different parallel existences and endings and alternate endings it's a very clever conceit
55:12yeah it's very interesting I mean we obviously had the the Until Dawn one release and there's
55:16video game films endless amounts but we'll move on to Back to the Future as it's the 40th anniversary
55:24and we were just saying that you know they went into the future 2015 but that was 10 years ago now
55:29and do you know what I remember in the second one you're right they go forward to 2015 yeah and it's
55:33this world where all the cars are flying in the sky but they still have analog newspapers like
55:37literally hard copy newspapers that you read and of course at the time we wouldn't have thought
55:42anything of it but you know we we don't have we have digital newspapers now but cars are not going
55:47in the sky so it's almost like a flip of what we'd expect they're brilliant films aren't they for
55:51showing us the future as seen from the 1980s perspective and we kind of laugh now because the future is both the
55:59same and different in so many ways and what were the attitudes towards the film's initial release
56:05was as I mean was it instantly popular yeah because it's also like we're saying about Spielberg who's
56:09one of the producers in the film is that it's that whole sense of where are we going can we change our
56:16lives I'm I'm I didn't see the first one at the cinema I did see the third at the cinema in more
56:20recent years I've seen them all at the cinema but all in the wrong order which is totally fitting
56:24because the film jumbles up past present future but at the time it felt exciting because it meant
56:29that you know can we change not just our past our parents past and what about the future I mean in
56:34a way it was almost like a video game in a way and you can sort of all the different films are set
56:39in different places fabulous Chris well uh very interesting and we'll be back at 8 pm for more news
56:44bye
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