- 2 days ago
Catch up with all the latest news from across the county with Meghan Shaw
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:36Hello and welcome to Kent's Night Live here on KMTV.
00:40I'm Megan Shaw and here are your top stories on Monday the 1st of June.
00:45No guarantees.
00:47South East Water unable to confirm supply issues won't happen again.
00:53And if we can all do our bit by trying to reduce demand, everyone should be back into supply as
00:58soon as possible.
00:59Free shop breaking.
01:01Herne Bay Charity has to use emergency funds to stay open after theft.
01:07He didn't steal from me. He didn't steal from our charity.
01:10He stole from people in need. That money is for people in need.
01:13And a century of speed.
01:16Brands Hatch Circuit celebrates 100 years of racing.
01:19Great feeling. It's a traditional, fabulous track. It's highly technical. You can sense the enthusiasm.
01:36But first, our top story tonight.
01:39South East Water are telling residents to limit water use to essential use only as supplies begin to return across
01:46the county.
01:47Yet, 117 households in Merriworth are still suffering from outages.
01:53And South East Water were not able to confirm this would be an isolated event.
01:57They went even further with BBC Radio Kent confirming there were no guarantees it wouldn't happen again.
02:04And I've been following the story.
02:06People are, at the end of their tether, breaking down in tears. They don't know what to do.
02:11The future is uncertain for Kent's water supply as support runs dry.
02:16Last week, during the hottest May days on record, hot and bothered residents across the county turned the taps and
02:24were met with nothing.
02:25Businesses shut up. Residents queued for bottled water.
02:29And while most of the county have supplies restored, some residents in rural areas around Maidstone have gone 11 days
02:37without consistent supply.
02:38The first couple of days you work around it, but it gradually, as the time goes on and it's again
02:43and again, it really does have kind of a real mental effect as well as physical.
02:48It's just exhausting having to remind the children not to flush the toilet or to go there or if they
02:54need a drink, when to get one and how to get one.
02:57In response, the leader of Kent County Council has launched her strategy to try and hold the water company responsible
03:05to account.
03:06What I'm going to do is set up the Kent Water Resilience Partnership, because I think it is about time
03:12that somebody, and that somebody is going to be me,
03:15sets up a working group with strategic oversight to look at the resilience of the water supply across the entire
03:22county.
03:23Now, the purpose of that group is going to be to bring together all the organisations responsible, that's the water
03:29companies and their regulators, into one space.
03:33And if I need to bang a few heads together, I'm fairly good at that.
03:37But South East Water, who have attributed supply issues over the last six months to a number of factors,
03:43from cold weather to hot weather to issues pumping water to higher ground, were unable to confirm that the end
03:50was in sight to us.
03:52We absolutely recognise that this interruption is, again, unacceptable, really, after the earlier incidents in Tunbridge Wells and that occurred
04:04over the winter due to other reasons.
04:09Obviously, because of climate change, we are starting to see more intense weather extremes occurring.
04:16We are also, as a company, in recognition of this, investing more money over the next few years than we've
04:23ever invested before, £2.1 billion to improve our resilience.
04:27Nick Price went one step further with the BBC, confirming that there was no guarantee it wouldn't happen again.
04:35But with the weather only set to get hotter as Kemp moves into summer, and still 117 households in Merriworth
04:43still left hanging out to dry,
04:46the water company continues to leave residents thirsty for answers.
04:51Megan Shaw, for Kame TV.
04:54A mum from Pembury has started a petition to help save services at the hospice in The Weald.
05:00Kaz Slesa-Paveley has been using the hospice's home visiting services for children since 2023 to help care for her
05:08six-year-old son, Kit,
05:09who has brain damage, partial blindness, epilepsy and motor dysfunction.
05:14However, the hospice has announced that the home visiting services will now be closed due to a lack of funding.
05:20Slesa-Paveley says that it's a sad reflection on the state that hospitals and charities find themselves in,
05:26they're all having to make cuts.
05:28She started a petition calling for the government and county council to step in and assist in funding the hospice
05:35services.
05:38Myers Community Free Shop in Home Bay means locals have access to affordable food, clothes and other items,
05:45but the charity have had to dip into their emergency funds after a break-in took £1,000 from their
05:51safes.
05:52Combined with the broken rear door means the Free Shop are currently looking for a solution to help pay the
05:58rent on their warehouse site.
06:00Finn McDermid was down at Myers earlier.
06:05The last place you would expect to be hit with a theft would be somewhere where all the items are
06:10completely free.
06:11The staff at Myers Community Free Shop in Home Bay discovered a smashed fire door at the weekend alongside a
06:17broken safe.
06:19They then reviewed the CCTV to see a masked intruder taking some of the cash donations.
06:24He took around £1,000 and also stole some electronic equipment and the broken fire door could cost the charity
06:31thousands of pounds.
06:33It's a free shop. We have free food, free clothes, free everything.
06:36So I can't even justify saying that, OK, that person was hungry, that's why you've done it.
06:41And the way you've done it, now we have to use emergency funds which we allocate in the charity for
06:46the food bank to top up the food bank shelves to pay the rent.
06:49And it's not only that, let's say the fire door which he broke in through is completely destroyed.
06:56I just had an estimate from the company who came to assess it.
07:00It's thousands of pounds. They say we can't just replace the handles and stuff.
07:03The frame needs to be replaced, the door needs to be replaced and it's thousands of pounds.
07:06It's a big metal fire door.
07:09Myers is a well-known charity in the area.
07:11Even on a Monday morning like today, there's still people volunteering, donating or browsing through some of the stock.
07:16But because of the financial impact of what's happened, whether that's the £1,000 stolen or the cost to fix
07:22the door,
07:22how will this affect the charity and those who need its services the most?
07:26At the moment, it didn't affect the people because we're trying our best to keep the doors open.
07:30But we also have a few hundred pounds a side just in case something happens, in case prices go up.
07:37End of the month, a lot of people.
07:38And the bad thing, it's happened at the end of the month.
07:40That is a time when a lot of people are struggling just before getting paid.
07:45So our food bank keys are longer.
07:47But we don't have choice.
07:48What can I do?
07:49I can't just sit and wait until we fix the door properly and not run the food banks.
07:54I can't.
07:54People in need struggle is every single day.
07:56We have to keep going.
07:58Kent Police have said they're investigating a reported burglary at a charity in C Street, Hearn Bay.
08:03Cash and other items were allegedly stolen after the property was targeted between 1.30 in the morning
08:08and 4 in the morning on Saturday, 30th May, 2026.
08:12Anyone with information that may assist inquiries is urged to call Kent Police.
08:17For the free shop and the community, the theft means they'll be pulling all the stops to keep the lights
08:22on and the people fed.
08:24Finn McDermott for KMTV in Hearn Bay.
08:28It is now a year on from the ban of the sale of single-use vapes in the UK.
08:33And while there's been a sharp decrease in the number of adults who say they mainly use disposable vapes,
08:39that's 24% in 2025 to 8% in 2026,
08:43campaigners still warn the devices are still easily available to buy.
08:47We were joined by Dr Marina earlier to tell us more.
08:51Thank you so much, Dr Marina, for joining us.
08:55So, first of all, we know you've done some research looking into the availability of disposable vapes 12 months on
09:01from the ban.
09:02Is this an issue for us here in Kent?
09:05Well, I think it's an issue for everybody in the country.
09:09I mean, it's a countrywide ban and we did a survey of about 1,000 vapors.
09:13And what we're seeing is that a year after the ban has been introduced,
09:17you still have more than 30%, 35% of people are still, you know, buying or have access to disposable
09:24vapes.
09:25Hardly anybody's recycling.
09:27The figures are something like 10%, which means 90% of people aren't recycling.
09:31And then of the people that we spoke to who had reduced their vaping,
09:36when you ask them if or what they did instead, 40% of those people are now smoking,
09:41which is a terrible result in my view.
09:43I mean, you mentioned that a lot of people are still having access to disposable vapes.
09:48So, why is this access still continuing so long after the initial ban?
09:53How is it people are getting hold of them if they're illegal?
09:56Well, for the most part, people are getting them in convenience stores and corner shops.
10:01And then there's also market stalls and car booth sales.
10:05And I suppose that, you know, it's always the case that if there is a demand for something,
10:10people who are willing to break the law will find a way to provide that something.
10:15Bans, and especially banning things that are very popular, that doesn't eliminate the demand for those things.
10:21It means that people go somewhere else.
10:23And unfortunately, they go to the black market, which is what we're seeing here.
10:26And here in Kent, we've seen plenty of vape action schemes to try crack down on non-compliance
10:32to the rules being spearheaded by the Kent trading standards.
10:35You mentioned bans aren't effective, but is this kind of action actually effective as well?
10:40Well, one of the issues that trading standards have, of course, is that they, you know,
10:44they don't have an awful lot of resource.
10:46So it's very difficult for them to keep on top of all the various outlets that sell vapes.
10:51And there are a huge number at the moment.
10:53I think they do need to be better resourced.
10:56And also the people who are selling the products probably aren't as up to date on the regulations
11:00as they should be.
11:02But there is a new act that has come into force,
11:04which means that people who sell vapes will have to get a retailer licence,
11:09which should help, I think, because it means at least that trading standards should,
11:13in theory anyway, know who's selling these products and be able to better enforce the rules.
11:18Thank you so much, Dr Marina, for joining us and sharing some of your research there.
11:24A man who damaged a military silhouette in Ramsgate has been charged by the police.
11:30Kim McCollum from Cliftonville was arrested after Kemp police responded to a report of a man with a weapon.
11:38It was later found McCollum had snapped off a rifle,
11:41which belonged to one of the 338 standing with giant silhouettes,
11:45which are currently in place around the harbour.
11:48The installation was intended to represent soldiers rescued from the beaches in Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo.
11:54McCollum was charged with criminal damage, possession of an offensive weapon,
11:57common assault and using threatened and abusive words.
12:04And more after the break.
12:42We want to make sure the continue to represent soldiers have changed with an offensive weapon,
12:42the air force behind the fire on certain that quadruple was protected from the sea and the air force behind
12:43the fire bomb.
12:43When we were able to yani to the national park.
12:44We wanted to see the data on the air force in the air force,
12:44which were able to really see the UFO status in the air force,
12:44so that the CIA was being carried out by an々s,
12:47so that the CIA had been totally occupied by the flag on the air force.
12:47We wanted to make sure it was going to be more likely to the air force.
12:47So we wanted to represent soldiers who were given the air force.
12:47It was one of the air force against the air force in the air force.
12:48And a lot of people want to Call inanti-liquist and the air force.
12:49And the air force at the air force on the air force in Perditoria,
12:55.
13:25.
13:56.
14:27.
14:27.
14:27.
14:27.
14:27.
14:28.
14:28.
14:28.
14:30.
14:35.
14:35.
14:35.
14:35.
14:37.
14:37.
14:37.
14:37.
14:38.
14:38.
14:43.
14:44.
14:44.
14:46.
14:46.
14:46.
14:47.
14:47.
14:52.
14:53.
14:57.
14:57.
14:57.
14:57.
14:57.
14:57.
14:57.
14:57.
14:58.
15:04.
15:06.
15:06.
15:06.
15:06.
15:06.
15:06.
15:06.
15:08.
15:08.
15:08.
15:08.
15:08.
15:15.
15:15.
15:15.
15:15.
15:17.
15:17.
15:17.
15:17.
15:17.
15:17.
15:18.
15:23.
15:23.
15:23.
15:24.
15:24.
15:24.
15:26.
15:26.
15:26.
15:26.
15:28.
15:29.
15:29.
15:29A 21-year-old who died following a collision with an emergency vehicle while riding an e-scooter has been
15:35named.
15:36.
15:36.
15:37.
15:37.
15:37.
15:37.
15:37.
15:38.
15:38.
15:38the hospital in a critical condition after the crash in Dartford at around 10.45pm on
15:43the 25th of May. His close friend, Lily Mae Lee, paid tribute to the friend who could
15:48lift your spirits no matter what following his death. A fundraiser has been set up to
15:53pay for funeral costs and explains the role the youngster played in the lives of those
15:57closest to him. The fundraiser is hoping to raise £5,000 to pay for a church service
16:03for Tommy who turned 21 in April. A disqualified driver who crashed his friend's vehicle into
16:10parked cars in Chatham has been without a licence on and off for 36 years. Jason Katz from Chatham
16:17who had a string of driving related convictions which has already seen him sent to prison took
16:22the keys to a friend's Ford Range van without permission and I have the moment he crashed
16:27it into a parked car. This footage captures the moment. Disqualified driver Jason Katz crashed
16:36his friend's pickup truck into a parked vehicle. Not once, not twice, but three times consecutively.
16:57Mr Katz, who was banned from driving 19 years ago, took the keys to the Ford Ranger to collect
17:03his daughter and baby and made it to Burma Way in Chatham before crashing into the open
17:09reach van. The Chatham resident was later charged with aggravated vehicle taking, driving while
17:15disqualified and without insurance, which he pled guilty to last month. Mr Katz has an extensive
17:22history of driving offences, including being disqualified from driving in 1990, taking a vehicle
17:28without the owner's consent in 1992 and driving while disqualified again in 1994. He was spared
17:35jail and instead placed on an 18-month community order and given another 12-month driving ban.
17:42Megan Shaw for Kane TV.
17:45Catapults have become a growing problem in Kent over previous years, with wildlife harmed,
17:51property damaged and even teeth broken. Some areas of the county now have the weapons banned,
17:57but not all, so the Faversham MP is continuing to fight to stop the behaviour escalating. Heidi Munn
18:04has more on the story. The shocking moment when three boys use a catapult to shoot and kill
18:10a pet peacock near Maidstone. Should catapults be banned in Kent? It's a question being asked
18:16after growing concerns for wildlife safety as well as damage to property. I'm here in Faversham
18:21where I've spoken to MP Helen Whateley and later a local councillor. I want to see the powers
18:27available to our police, to local authorities, to take action on catapults. Now some people say to
18:33me, oh why do you want to stop kids having a fun time playing with catapults? But there's a big
18:38difference between a catapult which is a toy and the kind of catapults which are being used to
18:43injure and kill animals. They're really different and much more powerful and actually even if a kid
18:50thinks it's a fun thing to fire a catapult at an animal, that is not okay, it's cruel and they
18:56should be
18:56stopping you doing it. I get regular reports of animals and actually damage to property due to
19:03catapults. Nearby the Columbine Wildlife Sanctuary has admissions of animals every week who've been
19:10injured by catapults. So it's really horrible injuries that animals are getting and it's completely
19:15unnecessary. It's often just young people thinking it's amusing to fire a catapult on an animal but
19:22clearly that does real harm injuries and indeed deaths. Helen is calling on Swale and Maidstone
19:27Borough councils to enforce a public spaces protection order which could give the police
19:32and councils extra powers to tackle people carrying catapults in public. So what is the benefit of such
19:39an order? I think we know that some of these attacks have been carried out by younger people.
19:44I suppose the main benefit that there could be is an extra police presence down by the pond. I do
19:52think that retailers, particularly online retailers, do need to be more responsible when it comes to who
19:58is buying the catapults in the first place. Obviously I think most people have found it really quite
20:03horrific. The local pond, Stonebridge pond, is an area that is frequented by families, young people, older
20:12people as well who really enjoy seeing the wildlife down there. So the idea that people are going and
20:17attacking these defenseless creatures and killing them, particularly at this time of year when many
20:23of the birds are nesting, is really really very unpleasant and very upsetting. But for now the issue
20:29of catapults won't waddle away any time soon. Heidi Munn for KMTV in Faversham. Bakers who offer trendy
20:37cake shed should be forced to secure a licence in Maidstone. Cake sheds operate as a trust-based box
20:44encouraging passers-by to give money in exchange for sweet treats. But now one baker says her cake
20:51shed in Moore Avenue may be fined £1,000 by Maidstone Council if she doesn't secure a licence.
20:58According to Maidstone Borough Council's website, you need a street trading licence if you trade in the
21:03street but the news has been met with disappointment by vendors. Brands Hatch has launched its centenary
21:12celebrations as the circuit marks 100 years of racing. The track initially opened in 1926 as a
21:19cycling venue before the first motor race was held in 1950. This weekend saw drivers from across the
21:26world arrive in Kent as the Masters Historic Series celebrated this historic milestone. Tim Foster reports.
21:35Visitors to Brands Hatch were in for a weekend of high speed and on-track action as the Masters
21:40Historic Series descended upon the Kent racing circuit. The event is part of the Century of
21:46Powers celebrations as the circuit marks 100 years of racing. The Historic Grand Prix Cars Association
21:52came out in full force to celebrate this centenary, building a grid of over 30 historic racing cars.
21:58It's a great feeling. It's a traditional fabulous track. It's highly technical. You can sense the
22:04enthusiasm of the organizers and the visitors and the HGPCA, Historic Grand Prix Cars Association members,
22:12I think, showed up in large numbers also because it is the 100th anniversary.
22:17It's really special and I think the people here have been loving it as well. It's really busy,
22:21it's one of the busiest big cities so far. But it's been great luck, you can add some history,
22:26heritage in England with different racetracks like Silverstone, Rat Snatch, Goodwood, Old Art.
22:32It was on this spot 100 years ago that a group of cyclists came across a natural hollow in the
22:36Kentish landscape. They decided it would be the perfect spot for a racing circuit. After some brief
22:42negotiations with the farmer who owned the land, that racing circuit was built. Brands Hatch was born.
22:48In the century that has passed since then, Brands has hosted racing series of every shape and form,
22:54from British touring cars to the Formula 1 British Grand Prix. The entrance to Brands is littered with
23:00the names that made this circuit great. Jim Clark, Graham Hill and James Hunt. And the racing machines
23:07they took to victory are taking to the track once more. It was in the hands of James Hunt in
23:121972
23:13that this March 712 Formula 2 car took third place at Alton Park. The construction of the car is fairly
23:19simple, none of the electronic gadgets that you have on today's Formula 1 cars. Safety very much an
23:24art of thought. The Masters historic series brought with them cars ranging from the 1950s to the 1990s.
23:31But why is it so important to keep these cars up and running?
23:35They were important in the careers of everybody in racing. In 1971 there's Jackie Stewart driving one of
23:43these, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jodie Schechter, you name it. They all started with these cars.
23:52With enthusiasm as high as this, it seems the future of the history of motor racing is in safe hands.
23:59Tim Forster for KMTV at Brands Hatch.
24:03Sticking with the sporty theme here, straight after today's show, you can catch Invictus Sport.
24:09And one bit of sport news everyone has been talking about is Gillingham Football Club's
24:14funky new kit, designed by Kids Art Show host and Jill's local Mr Maker. We asked people in Kent their
24:22thoughts.
24:23Have you seen the new Gillingham third kit? I have, yes. What are your opinions on it?
24:28Yeah, I think it's pretty cool the way they announced it. It's quite good marketing. And yeah,
24:33I think it's bold. It's bold, but yeah, I quite like it. Yeah, I'm not over fussed, but if it's
24:38not the
24:38main kit, I'm okay with it. Yeah, it's okay. It's a third kit, but not the main kit. We go
24:44with that.
24:44Definitely not. Yeah, we love it. I love the colours. Yeah, it's really nice.
24:47Creative, yeah. Big old Mr Maker.
24:51I love it. I reckon it's like tropical vibes, you know. It's got like that electric green Hawaiian
24:56looking. It's good. Very cool.
24:59And now it's time for the weather.
25:05Tonight, temperatures starting to fall with averages around 17 degrees. Some cloud cover
25:10and light rain in some areas in the north of Kent tomorrow morning. Spring showers, getting into
25:15summer showers now. Bit of clouds, temperatures still around 16 degree average. Tomorrow afternoon,
25:21highs of 18 up in North Kent, lows of 17 in the south of the county. And the rest of
25:27the week,
25:27temperatures hovering around 16 degrees. But light showers coming in on Thursday and Friday,
25:34so the heat wave seems over.
25:41A new culture festival on the Isle of Sheppey kicked off today. The programme for the festival
25:47is packed with nearly 100 events, with organisers vowing to challenge claims that Isle is a cultural
25:53desert. The line includes a one-man performance of great expectations by the great
25:57great-grandson of Charles Dickens. This is what organiser Jenny Herky had to say.
26:03Well, the whole idea is to promote the heritage and culture of Sheppey. Not many people know what
26:08we have here. And so what we've done is that we've got the whole island working together and
26:13we're promoting all the events that are happening right across June. When people describe us as a
26:18cultural desert, I'm thinking, that's not really fair. There's no balance in it. So we're trying to
26:23just redress the balance. Yeah, not everything is perfect, but we have an amazing community. We do
26:30lots of things. You know, we've got artists colonies, we've got writers. Yeah, five museums, two bird
26:38reserves, three blue flag beaches. Yeah, all of that.
26:44And that's all we've got time on this evening, Kent Tonight Live on Kane TV. There's more news made
26:50just for Kent throughout the evening and at 8pm. But until then, we'll catch you later. Have a good evening.
27:14I'm going to take a break.
27:15I'll take a break.
27:19Let's go.
Comments