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00:33Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight, live on KMTV. I'm Leila Mohamed and here are your top stories on Tuesday
00:40the 16th of June.
00:41It's a disgrace. Two new school streets implemented in Medway despite local backlash.
00:47It's terrible. People are getting into that school area before 8 just to wait to take their kids in.
00:55Reign it in. Aylsford horse riders criticise dangerous drivers.
01:00It's a precious item to me. I mean the car is an inanimate object. I like the car but it
01:07doesn't have a character.
01:08And finally, what does this brick have to do with 25 years of flooding in Luce?
01:13At the moment I'm controlling the amount of water going into the second manhole. It's buy a brick.
01:19It's been 25 years. You've got £1,000 away each year. Then you'd have been able to do this double.
01:34Now a controversial scheme to pedestrianise school streets during pick-up and drop-off times has been rolled out further
01:41across Medway.
01:42Despite parents warning it won't help keep children safe.
01:45It comes as plans for a third school street outside a private school in Rochester were dropped in the face
01:50of fierce oppositions.
01:51The two new school streets outside the Crest Infant School and Horset Primary School are intended by the council to
01:57reduce the risk of road accidents.
01:59And our local democracy reporter Olly Leder went down to see the scheme in action.
02:04Want to start an argument with a Medway motorist?
02:06Well, you could always show them one of these new signs that have cropped up outside the Crest Infant School
02:12in Rochester.
02:13They're part of the latest wave of school streets that effectively pedestrianise the surrounding roads at drop-off and pick
02:21-up times.
02:22The council says they make the school run safer. Parents I spoke to say it doesn't really make a difference.
02:29All you're doing is encouraging us to come that little bit earlier and all you're doing is then forcing the
02:34traffic further into other streets.
02:36So streets that weren't affected are now going to be affected.
02:40Robert Richardson is one of the locals here who is less than impressed.
02:45His stepson and wife both have disabilities and they need to park close to their home.
02:51With my partner having chronic asthma, all the cars are going to park this side of the school now.
02:59So we're going to be left to park halfway down our street or up that massive hill.
03:04And then, yeah, just don't want it to cause any medical emergencies to my wife.
03:09The new school street zone here and outside the Horset Primary School brings the total number across the five towns
03:17to 14.
03:19Supporters say anything that avoids road accidents is a good thing.
03:23I think it's a very good idea. Safety for the children first.
03:27Especially coming up Fairlead Road because we've got cars parked on this side.
03:33So when the cars are coming down, going up, they tend to be a bit of a queue.
03:37While there are now two new school streets here in Medway, plans for a third right outside the gates of
03:44the King School,
03:45where I'm stood right now, have been scrapped in no small part due to the sheer number of objections from
03:53locals.
03:54More than 200 saying the scheme just wouldn't work for the area.
04:00It was madness.
04:01And it would have actually been worse for child safety because they've had to park a long way away
04:07and then walk across some very busy roads to get to school.
04:11But Medway Council insist school street schemes work
04:15and that they are still looking at alternatives for the King's School area.
04:20The only reason that pupils are being put in danger is again because able-bodied parents are driving able-bodied
04:27pupils
04:28and chauffeuring them door to door.
04:30That's completely unnecessary and it's putting other people in danger.
04:34Breaching the rules could cost you £70.
04:37But with some parents pushing back, the road wars at the school gates aren't over just yet.
04:43Ollie Leda in Medway.
04:47Now, a driver who killed a teenager after speeding in Coxie was sentenced to seven and a half years
04:53but will only serve two-thirds of that behind bars.
04:56Kieran Burn-Nichols was making his way home when he was one of two people struck by a BMW in
05:01July 2023.
05:03The car had been travelling 80 miles an hour in a 30-mile-an-hour zone
05:06and hit Kieran from behind while he was riding his e-bike.
05:09The driver, Cameron Langley-McComb, was sentenced today at Maidstone Crown Court
05:14after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
05:18Now, a man born in Chatham but raised in Florida is in a race against time
05:23to avoid deportation from the United States following President Trump's immigration crackdown.
05:29Connor Reid moved across the Atlantic when he was just eight years old
05:32but now faces the prospect of being separated from his two sons by immigration enforcement stateside.
05:38To get the latest on the situation, our reporter, David Brooks-Horsley, joined me in the studio earlier today.
05:44And so, can you tell me a little bit about the current situation for Connor?
05:48Yeah, so now 29 years old, Connor is now documented as living illegally in the United States.
05:54On June 3rd, Connor had been torn away from his family when he was detained by immigration agents
06:00and, as a result, could be deported back to Britain, leaving behind his twin sons, Ryder and Aussie,
06:06as we can see on the screen here.
06:07He'd lived in Florida for more than 20 years and, as such, faces that potential deportation
06:13as he does not have the proper visa to stay and has a removal order out against him
06:18due to him committing misdemeanors as a youth.
06:21Because of this, the order legally requires a non-US citizen to leave the country.
06:25Connor is actually one of 51,000 undocumented migrants in Immigration and Customs Enforcement
06:32as of early June.
06:33And this is actually the highest on record since September 2019.
06:37However, at the time, he was in that process of applying for the green card.
06:41And so, what was the application process for the green card like for Connor and his family?
06:46So, the first step was getting an I-130 petition approved,
06:51which would allow Connor to apply for that green card.
06:54And this would then lead with the interview with U.S. citizenship and Immigration Service officials,
07:00which actually occurred on June 3rd at 7.30 a.m.
07:05During this interview, Connor and his American wife of five years, Jaylin,
07:10had to take marriage and birth certificates, a family picture album,
07:14and their children to prove their identity to the officials.
07:17However, during this meeting, it was at that point that Connor was separated from his wife and sons.
07:23And then what happened after Connor's detention?
07:26So, his wife, Jaylin, actually checked on the status of Connor's application for that I-130.
07:33And it had been approved that very same day,
07:35just shy of two and a half years since they had first applied for it.
07:40Now it has been approved, it allows the family to ask a judge to look at Connor's removal order case.
07:45If the judge chooses to revoke this, Connor would not be deported
07:49and could continue with his green card application to stay in Florida and the States with his family.
07:55His family have sent the required legal documents,
07:58including proof of the I-130 petition to an attorney for this to go ahead.
08:02However, this has cost them $4,000 to reopen this case.
08:06And now we can hear about current family feelings towards this case from Connor's wife, Jaylin.
08:12I can't believe I have to leave him.
08:13And what am I going to tell these kids?
08:15My worst fear is him being there wanting for me and I'm out here and there's only so much that
08:20I can do.
08:21And him begging me to get him out of there.
08:24You know, that's a horrible feeling.
08:26So, they, funnily enough, have come up with the idea that their dad is at an entertainment park right now
08:35called Dinosaur World.
08:36We actually passed it on I-4 on the way to the interview that morning.
08:42So, it's kind of, it kind of makes sense if you think about it from their perspective.
08:50Next, two equestrians from Aylesford say it's become harder and harder to safely ride on horse on roads.
08:5622% of riders in the UK say they've experienced road rage or abuse while on their horse.
09:02And the number of fatal incidents have risen by 180% since 2016.
09:07So, what's changed?
09:08Well, Chloe Brewster joined a mother and daughter on a ride to find out.
09:13Trotting along Kent's roads, as they have done for their entire lives.
09:18But these equestrians now say riding has become more dangerous than ever.
09:23As badly behaved motorists and depleting bridleways are pushing them away from jumping abreast.
09:29Straightforward, one had to be careful.
09:31We were always alert and looking around.
09:34But compared with now, there was almost no traffic.
09:37Nearly all of it was local.
09:38So, with no people, no way horses were likely to be.
09:42Cars are so comfortable that you sit in there in a little cosy box with the music on.
09:48Totally unaware of the outside world, I think.
09:51Between 2016 and 2025, there were more than 19,000 road incidents involving horses recorded by the British Horse Society.
10:01In that time, the number of horse fatalities rose by 180%.
10:05And of the 2,800 incidents in 2025, 22% of riders were also victims of road rage or abuse.
10:15On average, 80.6% of incidents occurred after a driver passed too closely.
10:22Pedestrians are listed as the most vulnerable growers used are followed by horses and cyclists.
10:27Horses are fly animals, which means they're pretty easy to scare.
10:30That's why loud noises and sudden movements.
10:33That's why following the highway code is so important for the safety of the driver, the horse rider and the
10:38horse itself.
10:39The British Horse Society says drivers should pass horses dead slow, going no more than 10 miles per hour and
10:47leaving a 2 meter wide gap.
10:49The horse is a precious item to me.
10:51It's not, I mean, the car is an inanimate object.
10:54I like the car, but it doesn't have a character.
10:57We don't have that level of trust.
10:58We don't have that bond with the car as I do with the horse.
11:01The horse and I need to keep each other safe.
11:04The good behaviour is slowing down, looking around, giving itself at least 2 meters.
11:09And being patient if we're having a problem.
11:12Sometimes the horses, sometimes, as you saw with Ginger coming up the road, get a bit upset about something or
11:17other.
11:18And we really want the traffic to just give us a little bit of space then.
11:22And some people don't want to.
11:23But most people do.
11:25Most people are lovely and patient and kind and helpful.
11:27Anne is 81 and hopes to keep riding alongside her daughters for as long as she can.
11:33As long as cars stop acting like they rain the roads.
11:37Chloe Brewster for KMTV in Aylesford.
11:41Well, now it's time for a short break, but don't go anywhere.
11:44Because coming up, I was joined by Rochester MP Lauren Edwards,
11:47who has shown support behind the very conflicted assistant dying bill.
11:52All that and more.
11:53We'll see you very soon.
12:07We'll see you next time.
12:38We'll see you next time.
13:08We'll see you next time.
13:56We'll see you next time.
14:08We'll see you next time.
14:38We'll see you next time.
14:41We'll see you next time.
14:57We'll see you next time.
15:04We'll see you next time.
15:48Hello and welcome.
15:52We'll see you next time.
16:44We'll see you next time.
16:47We'll see you next time.
16:50Lauren.
16:51First of all,
17:21We'll see you next time.
17:24And now we'll see you next time.
17:29We'll see you next time.
17:43And I'll see you next time.
17:52We'll see you next time.
18:02We'll see you next time.
18:10We'll see you next time.
18:18We'll see you next time.
18:26We'll see you next time.
18:35And we'll see you next time.
18:48So, we'll see you next time.
19:01We'll see you next time.
19:04We'll see you next time.
19:13We'll see you next time.
19:16We'll see you next time.
19:19We'll see you next time.
19:29I'm not expecting at all to have to use the Parliament Act. There is no need for it to be
19:36used if peers are willing to just do the really important job that they're there to do, which is
19:42to scrutinise legislation passed by the House of Commons. Well, thank you so much for joining us
19:48today, Lauren. Now, a village of Kent has faced 25 years of flooding nightmares, with one brick
19:56shoved down a manhole being the only thing that's stopping regular flooding every day. Locals
20:01in Luce are calling for a permanent solution to their drainage woes from Kent County Council,
20:06who say there are options on the table, but there could be a price tag. But, as residents
20:11have been telling our local democracy reporter Olly Lieder, the current solution isn't sustainable.
20:16Let's have a look.
20:17At the moment I'm controlling the amount of water going into the second manhole by a brick.
20:23It may not be the most elegant solution, but this brick is all that's stopping the flooding
20:30that Clive Lewis has lived in fear of for nearly 25 years. If the brick is removed or the weather
20:39turns to rain, Church Street here in Luce overflows with water. And then it all starts tipping out
20:46down the road. Putting nearby houses at risk. Indeed, we did put sandbags along the front
20:53wall in an attempt to stop any damp getting into the walls. There is the danger in the winter
20:58when it's overflowing that it can ice over and people have fallen on the ice. Bicyclists,
21:04cyclists have fallen. Local councillor Bob Ford has been trying to get the issue sorted
21:09since he was elected last year. Now he's put the issue to Kent County Council's Flood Management
21:24Committee. What I remember was £12,000 to sort this situation. And as I said to the drainage
21:31woman, it's been 25 years. You put £1,000 away each year, then you'd have been able to
21:37do this double. Council officers at the authority appear
21:40open to tackling the problem. I think you'll recall we had a number of solutions that had
21:46been looked at. But even as residents left the meeting with
21:50the prospect of further discussions about their drainage woes on the cards, any hope of a short
21:57term fix appears to be a washout. Oli Leda in Luce. Now let's take a quick look at the weather.
22:12Now this evening is going to be a fairly warm one where we'll see loads of 19 degrees in
22:16Tunbridge Wells, highs of 22 in Canterbury. Wind speeds of 10 going into tomorrow morning.
22:21Loads of 16 in Tunbridge Wells, highs of 17 across the board elsewhere in Kent. Cloudy skies
22:26and some sun in Dartford into tomorrow afternoon. Temperatures rise to 19 in Dover, highs of 24 in
22:32Canterbury and a good 23 across the north of Kent. And your outlook for the week, there'll be lots of
22:36sunshine. Thursday sunny 27, Friday sunny with 30 and Saturday sunny again with highs of 26.
22:51Now Mark and Shelley Hood have closed the Bonnie Kravitz pub in Woodchurch, Kent less than a year
22:56after taking it over. The couple moved from Australia, signed a five-year lease and invested
23:01£90,000 renovating the historic venue. Below footfall, rising costs and competition from the
23:08neighbouring Six Belts made it unviable. Sometimes only one or two customers visited daily. So they
23:14decided to leave at Christmas and close the pub in June and will return to Western Australia in July.
23:20Locals have expressed sadness at the loss of the Tudor era pub and owners thanked supporters and hoped
23:25future tenants would gain support. Now later tonight, our latest episode of Made in Kent will air.
23:31It's a show that explores the world of businesses and creators throughout the county. Ahead of the show,
23:36let's take a quick look at some of the businesses visited in previous episodes and let's get a feel
23:40of what's to come tonight.
23:57Welcome to Pawfest 2026, hosted here in Bettshanger Country Park in Zeal, where tales, swag,
24:02hearts, fond and memories are made.
24:03The biggest thing about Pawfest is that we are very welfare centric.
24:07I'm here at Youlding Forge to learn more about the craft of blacksmithing.
24:12The majority of my work is commission-based, so I go from kind of start to finish kind of designing,
24:18making and installing metalwork for them.
24:20But today we're here at a very windy Chatham Dockyard.
24:23For the unveiling of Ken Chris' brand new flavour.
24:26Ken Chris' ethos is very much about championing local producers and local ingredients.
24:47And I'm now joined by the presenter of the show, Alia Pritchard.
24:51So Alia, we've just seen some highlights there, but what's been your favourite episode to film so far?
24:55Well, I personally, I'd have to say the arts and craft episode, where we kind of highlighted our local artists
25:01and creators who really put so much passion into what they create.
25:04And you could see within the promo package about where we visited a blacksmith who created lots of metal artwork.
25:14You could see them just there on screen.
25:16Yeah.
25:16And we also visited a pottery studio within that episode, as well as a wax melting creation.
25:24And out of those, what has been your favourite business to visit?
25:29Um, my favourite business within that episode was definitely the pottery studio.
25:33Um, I love pottery and stuff like that, so it was really fun to see the process and see how
25:38the wheels worked.
25:39It was very interesting.
25:40And why should people tune into Made in Kent? What's it all about?
25:44Well, Made in Kent is really good to kind of find these new businesses and these hidden gems within our
25:49county and find those local places that you might want to come and visit yourself.
25:53We explore lots of different types of businesses and you can really find what suits you and it's a great
25:59way to find out about our county.
26:01And what is one of those hidden gems that you were talking about there? What can viewers expect?
26:05Well, actually, in tonight's episode, we visit a cafe that's inside a bus, which is a really interesting concept.
26:12See pictures.
26:12Yeah, we can see it on the screen now.
26:14Um, it's very unique and it was very interesting to see how they made that work in that space.
26:20And tell us a little bit about tonight's episode.
26:23What can we see in tonight's episode?
26:24Well, as it's officially summer, we decided to make an episode all about seaside.
26:29So we visited many of our coastal towns within the county and we went to Whitstable where we visited an
26:36ice cream store.
26:38We also went to Margate where we visited the bus cafe and we also visited Ramsgate to talk to the
26:44residents about what their favourite businesses are.
26:46Well, thank you so much today.
26:48Bye.
26:49That's all we have time for today.
26:51But enjoy us again tomorrow evening.
26:53Goodbye.
26:55Bye.
26:56Bye.
26:58Bye.
26:59Bye.
27:09Bye.
27:16Bye.
27:16Bye.
27:19Bye.
27:25Bye.
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