00:15Good evening and welcome to KMTV News, a round with the biggest headlines creating Kent's
00:21news agenda. I'm Megan Shaw and here are your top stories on Monday the 25th of May.
00:29In hot water, South East water leave Ashford villagers without water during hottest May
00:36day ever recorded. Forgive our trespasses, Kent County Council votes to recite the Lord's Prayer
00:42at every full council meeting. And Rolvenden's Rolls-Royce, a hundredth birthday for local
00:49historic car hosts, Kent's classic car owners. But first our top story tonight,
00:56villagers outside Ashford have now gone three days without water after supplies became compromised
01:02in Charing, Cholock and Malash on Saturday. South East water said around 800 households were affected,
01:11but this morning a spokesman said 250 properties remain impacted after a pump issue caused problems
01:18pushing water to higher ground. As temperatures solved this weekend, I went down to speak to them
01:24about their frustrations. We pay our water and we expect service and we're not getting it.
01:30Sunshine and a barbecue sounds like an ideal way to spend a bank holiday. But for Janet,
01:36who's had no water since early Saturday morning, she's had to ask her guests to bring water rather
01:42than wine. It's very difficult. Very difficult. I can't wash up. I had to use a bottle of water to
01:49boil
01:49my vegetables, wash my, you know, the potatoes and lettuce and stuff. Yeah, it's just very inconvenient.
01:57Why the hottest weekend? Why does it break down? Why isn't it serviced properly? You pay all this
02:03week. Yeah, I've been very stressed this weekend. Three villagers just outside of Ashford have had
02:13their water supply fail. And while the taps might be flowing again for most, those who live on higher
02:19ground, like Janet, are still left parched. Now, it's not the first outage for South East water,
02:26but this weekend has been extraordinarily hot. It's just gone noon and the temperature's already above
02:3230 degrees. Saturday and Sunday were similar temperatures. Trollock had an outage on Saturday.
02:39The residents say the bottled water station wasn't set up until residents had gone without a drop to drink
02:46for hours. Yeah, quarter to nine apparently it went off. It must have been seven-ish, maybe half six,
02:52seven-ish, when they started setting up over at the village hall for the water station. So we thought,
02:58right, okay, this is gonna, this is gonna be ongoing. There was no collection site either then.
03:02We didn't get that until very late. And then we couldn't collect none on the night, but we could
03:07collect it the first thing on Sunday morning. So yeah, because there was a trouble with, um,
03:14I don't know, the lorry or whatever it was. I can't remember now what was going on. But no,
03:18there was no water supply at all. No one just had none. South East water said around 250 properties
03:25in the Charing, Chullock and Molash areas have been impacted by water supply issues,
03:31including low pressure or no water. This follows a technical failure at our pumping station near
03:38Charing, which means we have struggled to push water to properties on higher ground. We're sorry to all
03:44impacted customers for the disruption caused. We know water supply issues during hot weather are
03:50deeply frustrating and incredibly inconvenient. But for those in the wheeled without water,
03:56there's no timeline of when supplies might return. So until then, they're left thirsty for a resolution.
04:04Megan Shaw for KMTV in the wheeled.
04:07A long stretch of the M2 near Pavisham has now reopened after a crash between a motorcycle and
04:14car, but there are still severe delays. The crash happened earlier today between junctions 5 and 6
04:20on the coastbound carriageway. Both lanes of the motorway were closed while the air ambulance landed,
04:26but have now been reopened, though there's significant congestion on local roads through Sittingbourne and
04:3210. Kent County Council has voted to recite the Lord's Prayer and sing the national anthem at full
04:38members' meetings on Thursday. The Reform UK-led administration sparked anger earlier this month
04:45when the changes were first proposed, but the votes are now in, with 48 councillors voting in favour.
04:52Neela Mahamed has the story. We are a Christian country and the Lord's Prayer acts, as it has done
05:01for many years, as a profound unifier because it is a shared spiritual template. On Thursday's annual
05:09Kent County Council meeting, 48 councillors voted in favour of reciting the Lord's Prayer at the start of
05:16each full council meeting, with 15 voting against. It was an amendment that sparked fury with many members
05:23of the opposition parties. The point is we're not there to sing songs and say prayers because that's
05:29not going to get the potholes fixed, that's not going to get the schools improved and that's what we're
05:33actually paid an allowance of about £16,000 by the council taxpayers to sort out, not to sing songs
05:40and not to say prayers. We can do that in our own time. I think it's an intent by reform
05:44to distract
05:45from the closing down they're trying to do of scrutiny. As I said also last Thursday, reform councillors
05:53voted to reduce the opportunity for opposition members to speak at county council. So what we see from
06:00Reform UK in Kent is they want less scrutiny, less opportunity for opposition voices and that would be
06:08outrageous coming from anyone. I suggested that if we were all going to be losing the minute from our
06:14speaking time, that she should lose a minute from her speaking time for the opening speech and for
06:22the reply. And unsurprisingly, that was completely unacceptable. So there's huge double standards
06:28here. We're losing the amount of time that's available for opposition members to be able to
06:34challenge and hold the administration to account. But we've got plenty of time for the praying and
06:40singing. I will not be reciting the Lord's Prayer or singing the National Anthem. And it's not just
06:46councillors who are divided, with some residents even taken to social media to spark their frustration.
06:51And instead, I sat through hours of debate about whether councillors should say the Lord's Prayer at
06:56the start of meetings and sing the National Anthem at the end. In a statement, the leader of Kent County
07:01Council said, it is not divisive. It is part of the fabric of who we are as a country. The
07:08things we do at
07:08the beginning and end of our meetings say something about who we are and what we value. With opinions
07:15divided both in and out of the chamber, will the Lord's Prayer actually be their saving grace?
07:22Nayla Mohamed for KMTV.
07:25Now back in 1926, the owners of the country home at Hull Park in Rovenden bought a Rolls-Royce that
07:32would later be used to transport local children to school. And today marks its 100th birthday. The
07:39celebration brought other classic car enthusiasts to the estate, while one raffle winner got the chance
07:45to get a lift in the century-old car. Ben McDermid went down to Hull Park to find out more.
07:51In 1926, the first red telephone box was installed in London. A new mechanical television system was
07:58developed and the Burham family, who had just bought Hull Park Country House in Rovenden,
08:02purchased a pale blue Rolls-Royce. Fast forward 100 years, that car is now owned by a new generation
08:08of Burhams. So to celebrate, the family hosted classic car enthusiasts, visitors and the deputy mayor
08:14for the Rolls 100th birthday on this especially hot bank holiday.
08:18Ben McDermid. Yeah, well we've got a little selection here of other Rolls-Royces and other
08:22cars come to join us for today, just to celebrate the car for the old girl, 100 years old today.
08:28Maybe she'll be getting a letter from the king, a telegram for the king for her birthday.
08:32Now everyone knows that in order to have a good birthday celebration, you've got to bring some
08:37friends along. So for the 100th birthday of this Rolls-Royce, the Barham family invited around
08:42more owners of other classic cars, including some Rolls-Royces, all to share in the fun.
08:47Her name is Gertie. She is 94 years old, made in 1932, a 2025 horsepower model, which is one model
09:01up
09:01on the 100 year old car which is here today. It's not so much buying it, it's maintaining it. So
09:08the
09:08parts and things and stuff like that, I use a very good local specialist. So other than having things
09:16like the starter motors and things and just general maintenance, it's actually touchwood pretty, pretty
09:21good. The day-to-day motor, other than the petrol, because it only does on a run 19 miles to
09:26the gallon,
09:26and the way that fuel is at the moment, as you can imagine, today's a bit of a treat.
09:32The people of the nearby village of Rolvenden would have seen the car throughout the years,
09:35as it was briefly used to transport children to school. And now a raffle was being held so people
09:40could have the chance for a ride along, with the deputy mayor having a go as well.
09:44Well we're very lucky to have the weather to be fair, but it's absolutely fantastic to be here,
09:49to see these gorgeous cars, beautifully restored, and the fact that one is 100 years old, 1926,
09:55and I'm looking forward to going on a ride later on actually, and I'm just very proud to be here
10:00really, and it's good to see so many have turned up. Well today marks another year for the Rolls-Royce
10:06at
10:06Hull Park, and while the pale blue part of the Byram family might be young at heart, in this heat,
10:12it will certainly struggle to be young of engine. Finn McDermid for KMTV in Rolvenden.
10:19Now Lovebox Music Festival is set to return to Dreamland in Margate next weekend, after a seven-year
10:26break. Once held at London's Gunsbury Park, Lovebox was founded in 2002 by Groove Armada. The festival
10:34ran until the 2020 pandemic, when events shut down. Despite expectations of a return in 2022,
10:42official dates had not been announced until last November, when the first wave of musical
10:46acts were revealed, with the likes of Rudimental and the Scissor Sisters.
10:52And now for the weather.
10:57Well tonight, thankfully for me, I don't know about you, but temperatures will cool slightly.
11:01Lows of 17 degrees in Canterbury, highs of 21. Tomorrow morning, there won't be a cloud in sight.
11:08Highs of 26 in Dover and Canterbury, but cooler towards the coast. It will be absolutely sweltering
11:14in the afternoon. Highs of 33 in Dartford, Medway and Maidstone, where plenty of sunscreen. Your outlook.
11:21Get ready for more sun, more heat. Highs of 27 on Thursday.
11:35And that's it from us this evening on KMTV. Check out our socials to keep up to date,
11:40but until then, we'll see you tomorrow.
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