- 1 minute ago
Catch up with all the latest news from across the county.
Chloe Brewster reports.
Chloe Brewster reports.
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TVTranscript
01:47Sophie Denny has the report.
01:50It's been over three years since these seats have seen performers on stage at Dartford's
01:56Orchard Theatre.
01:57Fears about rack, a dangerous concrete which was found in the theatre's roof, brought
02:03the curtain down on productions back in September 2023.
02:08And the theatre has been undergoing refurbishments ever since.
02:12Initially supposed to cost £16.8 million, this total has now been pushed up to £28.4 million.
02:21It's an investment, not a cost.
02:23You either have a theatre or you don't have a theatre.
02:25It's a binary thing.
02:27And if you're going to have a theatre, you've got to invest in it.
02:29You've got to spend.
02:30There's no getting around it.
02:32You've got to make it happen.
02:33So that's what we did.
02:33Yes, it has been expensive.
02:35But bear that, you've got to put it in context too.
02:38£6 million is the amount of money this building generates to the local economy.
02:41It doesn't take very long to get that back.
02:43The theatre was due to reopen in May last year, but was delayed after more work was needed
02:50to meet safety regulations.
02:52I'm sat in the newly refurbished stools of the Orchard Theatre.
02:56But as you can hear from the noise around me and all of the protective gear I'm wearing,
03:01it's still very much a building site.
03:04But those in charge say they are confident that they will be ready for the reopening.
03:09You know, there's an awful lot of work still to do, but it will happen in the time period that
03:14we've got.
03:14We've got so many contractors on site working, you know, kind of around the clock.
03:18So, yeah, we will be here for Christmas.
03:20Performers are set to return to the Orchard Theatre in December for pantomime season,
03:25bringing a tale of transformation into a newly transformed space.
03:29It's, yeah, it's so lovely to be sort of part of that first cast that get to kind of reignite
03:34that theatre.
03:36So, yeah, really special. And to have a story about transformation as well,
03:39it's really fitting for the Orchard Theatre.
03:41The pantomime will star comedian Joe Pasquale, who is currently on voice rest,
03:46but who will take to the stage as Baron Hardup.
03:49I'm super excited to be working with Joe Pasquale this year.
03:52I've looked up to him as a comic for so many years.
03:55I've seen him on tour and it's so exciting for me to be learning off a master.
04:01He is a comedy genius and we're going to be doing a lot of comedy stuff together.
04:06Can't tell you too much.
04:07As December approaches, cast and crew are hoping that curtains up on Cinderella will mark the start of the theatres
04:15happily ever after.
04:17Sophie Denny for KMTV in Dartford.
04:21A man who had his home of 35 years bulldozed in Swanscombe plans to take the company who did it
04:28to core.
04:30Land Logical demolished Bob Foyt's caravan on the bank of the Swanscombe Peninsula back in May.
04:35They acquired the land after Bob moved in, but Bob's lawyers have argued for an interim injunction,
04:40allowing him to return to the site with a replacement caravan while a wider legal dispute is decided.
04:46Land Logical CEO Nicholas Katz had previously defended the demolition, saying Bob had been squatting.
04:53Eight fire engines, a hype vehicle and police were called to put out a fire that broke out in a
04:58derelict Chatham building last night.
05:00The former Buzz Bingo building on Chatham High Street caught fire just after 10pm,
05:06with fire crews able to extinguish the flames at around one in the morning.
05:11Last year, Medway Council, Kent Police and Kent Fire and Rescue Service ordered the building's owners to step up security
05:16and safety measures
05:17after being warned they were putting lives at risk.
05:20No injuries were reported and the cause is still unknown.
05:24We've had a week of headlines about the numerous party conferences with political figures announcing a whole wave of policies,
05:30from childcare cuts to renewable infrastructure.
05:33But what does Kent's business expert have to say about what the announcements might mean for the county?
05:38Well, I spoke to Tudor Price from the Kent and Victor Chamber of Commerce earlier.
05:43Jeremy Clarkson at the Conservative Party conference said that you can no longer set up a business in Andy Burnham's
05:49Britain.
05:49Is that true? I mean, there's plenty of businesses in Kent that might differ with that.
05:55Yes, I think that's an interesting headline grabber, isn't it?
05:58But the reality is there are continual businesses being set up and also sort of closing as well.
06:05It's called Business Births and Deaths rather sort of unromantically.
06:09And the Office for National Statistics keeps those records year in, year out.
06:14And whilst there's been a bit of a slowing down of businesses starting, again partly because of sort of fuel
06:19costs and economic charges and stuff,
06:22they still continue to start up, perhaps more as a side hustle than a main form of occupation.
06:28But, yeah, I'm not quite sure that's entirely true.
06:30I know where Jeremy's coming from on this.
06:32It's really more to do with more regulation coming in place and some of the challenges that faces.
06:39And, of course, he's famously been well documented and well televised with the challenges for farming at the moment.
06:45And that, of course, is a genuine concern.
06:47Were there any announcements at the party conferences that maybe didn't make the headlines, but you found quite interesting?
06:57No.
06:58Yes, there are sort of side conversations take place.
07:00There's been a few interesting bits and pieces.
07:03Labour have talked a little bit about some of their international ambitions.
07:08You know, there's actually a sense of sort of trying to reengage with the EU.
07:12That was quite prominent, but actually it's some of the more subtle arrangements that they're looking to establish,
07:18likewise trading with Canada and other places.
07:20So there was some interesting opportunities there because EU regulation is a problem for us still.
07:27Not because we have to abide by it, but if you want to sell to customers in the EU,
07:33which the vast majority of businesses certainly down here in Kent wants to,
07:37then invariably you've got to comply with their regulations.
07:39So still being involved in that was quite interesting.
07:42Again, Labour had some interesting ideas around that.
07:44I think the attitude of the Green Party was also quite interesting around making sure that there was some degree
07:53of protection for British and UK businesses
07:57supporting the economy through supply chain opportunities with local government and stuff like that.
08:03So again, perhaps a little bit more room fencing and protection around that was quite positive.
08:08Generally, a lot of noise, I think, was around the small boats and taxation and other places like that.
08:15But I think whatever it is, whoever is in power, they need to stay there for a long time.
08:21They need to be predictable and it needs to be something.
08:24I mean, I love boring. I love boring and stable.
08:28So I'm not looking for any celebrities or any particular outstanding personalities.
08:33It would be nice just to have a government that stays the same for the duration
08:36and allows everyone to get on and sort of navigate their way around the challenges.
08:40Boring and stable. That's what the Kent businesses want.
08:43Thank you so much, Tudor.
08:44We do.
08:46A police helicopter has joined the hunt for a driver after a car hit a pole in Maidstone.
08:52The search began after a grey Ford Fiesta struck a crossing light on Heathfield Road.
08:58Police say the driver had failed to stop before abandoning his vehicle and fleeing the scene.
09:03The National Police Air Service helicopter assisted with the search.
09:10Now don't forget you can keep up to date with your latest headlines by logging on to kmtv.co.uk
09:15where you can keep up to date with all our latest stories including this one.
09:20The River Medway flows for 57 miles across the county.
09:25But when weather isn't quite so serene, it can pose a threat to nearby communities
09:31as Tombridge and Hildenborough know all too well.
09:34Flooding devastated here in 1968 and then again in 2013.
09:40So today's unveiling of expanded water storage is a welcome enhancement to the countryside.
09:47Any resident who remembers some of the big flooding events we've had,
09:51whether that would be 1968 which resulted in the construction of the live flood storage area originally
09:57or at Christmas 2013, will very much appreciate all of the work that's being taken to best defend us from
10:05flood water.
10:05This structure and the one at Hildenborough that I'm intending to go to later
10:11are the facilities that we've really been looking for to protect those areas downstream from flooding.
10:18Here they monitor rainfall and decide when to open the storage area to mitigate any flood risk.
10:25The £42 million expansion has increased the amount of water that can be held here by 23%.
10:32This flood defence structure is one of the biggest of its kind in Europe.
10:37The amount of water it can store is actually equivalent to 3,000 Olympic sized swimming pools.
10:44For the last three years the Environment Agency has been working with partners to actually replace all the gates here
10:51for this phenomenal flood storage area so that it's ready to operate 24-7 going into the winter.
10:58This winter residents and businesses will know that they are going to be far better protected.
11:04Flooding is a threat and obviously the more we build, the more we cover our land, the less water gets
11:13back into the aquifer.
11:15So builders, farmers, local planners all need to bear this in mind.
11:21With climate change continuing to raise the risk of flooding in the county,
11:25residents here will be hoping any concerns will be washed away as winter approaches.
11:31Chloe Brewster for KMTV in Tombridge.
11:34Well that's all we have time for in this part of the show but coming up after the break
11:39we'll be discussing a new scheme helping young people across Ken and Medway
11:43develop safer driving behaviours as rules change for new drivers in Northern Ireland.
11:48We'll also speak to the mother of a girl who lost her life to an allergy and started a foundation
11:53in her honour.
11:54We'll also be taking a look at a three-foot gourd so get excited for that.
11:59We'll also be taking another look at the weather. See you soon.
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15:27Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight, live here on KMTV, a road safety program helping young
15:33people across Kent and Medway develop safer driving and passenger behaviours is being expanded
15:38with a new session focused on what to do following a collision. It comes as Northern Ireland introduced
15:43a scheme to add extra rules on new drivers aimed at reducing collisions. Nayla Mohamed joins me in
15:49the studio to tell me more. Nayla what is this scheme all about? Well to begin with it's a really
15:55large partnership between Medway Council, Kent Police, Kent Fire and Rescue, the South East Coast
16:00Ambulance Service and National Highway. So there's a lot of organisations involved in this and the aim
16:05is to improve the safety of young drivers and their passengers because they believe that this category
16:11of people, of drivers, are overrepresented in collision statistics. Kent County Council have released some
16:18statistics saying between January 2023 and December 2025 123 passengers aged 17 to 24 were killed or
16:28seriously injured and of this statistic of this category 72% of those were in vehicles driven by
16:36someone within that same category that's aged 17 to 24 and so the scheme which started off in 2001
16:44helps young people develop the knowledge and the confidence to make safer decisions when they're
16:50behind the wheel and we actually heard from someone from Kent County Council about this earlier today.
16:54We give them lots of information around the journey that happens, the learning, they have support from
17:02the ADIs from their parents but what we have found is that they are not being prepared for a crash.
17:08No one
17:08prepares for a crash so no one's teaching them the skills that could be life-saving after a crash happens
17:15and so that's why we've developed this post-collision care session so that they can have those skills and we
17:21know that we don't plan for the crash so we know that
17:23anxiety and stress levels are extremely high sometimes in the worst case scenarios and having so many of this information
17:32already embedded in their brains can actually help and support them to have a better outcome after these crashes have
17:39happened.
17:41So the scheme started in 2001 but there are four sessions involved there, helped to look at the key factors
17:48contributing to these kind of things, however as we just heard there,
17:51no one had really considered how young people deal with collisions so that's what this new scheme, this new addition
17:58is all about.
17:59Teaching young adults, young drivers what to do if they're involved in a collision or at least if they witness
18:03one.
18:04It gives advice on legal responsibilities and also the kind of steps that you may need to take while waiting
18:09for emergency services.
18:11Thank you so much Naila, that was really insightful.
18:15This week is Anaphylaxis Awareness Week. Anaphylaxis is a major allergic reaction which can be life-threatening.
18:22It's a threat thousands of families face with Sadie Bristow's family understanding that more than most.
18:28She lost her life after having a reaction and now her mum Claire is campaigning to raise awareness of the
18:33risks children with allergies face.
18:35I spoke to Claire earlier.
18:37So the Sadie Bristow Foundation was set up following the death of your daughter Sadie.
18:43Could you tell us about Sadie and why you decided to set up the foundation?
18:50Yeah, Sadie was a really bright, happy, athletic, studious child.
18:58And after she passed away we wanted to create a legacy that was similar to her personality and to enable
19:11other children and families to learn about allergies themselves.
19:18So there were two sides to our charity.
19:20One was to provide children with an opportunity to learn how to play tennis in a non-expensive way.
19:27So going into primary schools and delivering that program.
19:30And the other was to try and help families that are also navigating like ourselves the challenges that allergies present
19:38to young people and their family or carers.
19:42This week is Anaphylaxis Awareness Week.
19:45Why is it so important to raise awareness of allergies and anaphylaxis and how to kind of react to that?
19:54Anaphylaxis is a really fast, reactive system that happens when you come into contact with an allergy.
20:03And if you don't know what the symptoms and signs are of anaphylaxis, then you don't get the treatment that
20:10you need.
20:11And this can happen so quickly.
20:13So it's really important that during Anaphylaxis Week and every other week, we educate people on what those signs and
20:21symptoms are.
20:22And there is no cure, unfortunately, and there is only adrenaline that will help you in a life saving situation.
20:29So it's important that we educate people on how to prevent those allergies from coming into contact with those allergies.
20:38So that's why it's important to educate staff and children at school as well as the wider community.
20:44So what are those signs and symptoms? Because me personally, I know kind of puffing up at the lips and
20:51that kind of thing, that's one of the symptoms or the signs.
20:54Can you let us know some other ones that people might be less aware of?
20:59So I think most people would associate having an allergy with swelling because that can be very obvious.
21:08But other symptoms are be to have hives, as you say, and they might be isolated in certain areas of
21:15your body or they may come all over your body.
21:18So it may not be obvious at the time whether you've got that or not.
21:21The other major symptoms are coughing or a restrictive airway.
21:29And so you might hear somebody struggling to breathe or coughing a lot, which is very serious.
21:36And you're particularly keen to train teachers and other school staff about this. Why is that?
21:44It's the place where parents hand over their children into someone else's care.
21:50You're giving that child to somebody else to take care of them.
21:55And in a canteen or in a school, that's where food generally comes into play.
22:00And if you are food allergic, where most mistakes can happen, whether that's in a preschool, a nursery or in
22:09a secondary or primary school setting.
22:11So it's really important that the guidance and the education is given to those members of staff.
22:19And there'll be some of that guidance on symptoms and signs and that kind of thing on the Sadie Bristow
22:24Foundation website.
22:24Is that correct?
22:26Yes, indeed. We've also got an education training program, which is specifically designed because of Benedict's law, which came in
22:35September.
22:36And sadly, Benedict died in school because he was given the wrong milk.
22:43And this is really important. We just simply cannot make these mistakes of not knowing what an allergic reaction is.
22:52Well, Mohan Singh, a 72 year old resident from Gravesend, grows his own vegetables in his garden and this year
22:59was able to grow a three foot nine gourd.
23:03His family believe it may be the biggest vegetable grown in Kent this year and are encouraging others to grow
23:08their own vegetables, too.
23:09Naila Mohammed went to see them. Tomatoes, chilies and aubergines. Just some of the vegetables Mohan Singh grows in his
23:20garden.
23:21But his latest accomplishment is this three foot nine gourd, which he grew this summer.
23:27Mohan is unable to speak English very well, so his daughter Amrit translated his responses.
23:38So he's actually very proud of himself. And especially this year, when he first started it, I was hesitant.
23:44And I've always said to him, I don't understand why you're wasting so much of your time on this.
23:48But I have seen how happy it makes him when he comes home from his allotment or in the garden.
23:55And yeah, he likes to give away vegetables and he's just it's just the happiness he has on his face
24:02is just exceptional.
24:04Mohan used to be a farmer in India and says being able to garden reminds him of that time and
24:10his home.
24:10So you can see behind me the vast and incredible collection of vegetables that Mohan has been growing in his
24:16garden and in his allotment.
24:18But recently, his prized possessions have been his gourds.
24:22Now, this isn't the three foot nine gourd we've been hearing about, but that's because it was turned into a
24:27very lovely curry, I've been told.
24:30The average size of a gourd ranges from six to 18 inches, which is why he's particularly proud of this
24:36one.
24:37This year alone, he's been able to grow 30 gourds, which they've been sharing with the local community.
24:42His daughter says that the intense heat the country has been seeing this past year meant that the climate in
24:48the UK is similar to the one in India,
24:51which is where the seeds for this vegetable has come from.
24:54I mean, he's been growing them for the last five years, but he's never had this much success.
24:58So this year, how do you think?
25:01About 30 for the first time. So that's why we were actually quite proud of him.
25:06Now his hobby, Mohan wants others to make use of any space in their garden and grow their own produce.
25:23So his message is to everybody, if you've got space in the garden, try and grow them. Obviously, it's fresh
25:30and you cut costs.
25:31With the temperatures set to remain just as hot in the coming year, all eyes are on whether or not
25:36Mohan will be able to grow even more super veg.
25:39Naila Mahamud for KMTV in Gravesend.
25:43Well, it's clearly been a superior growing season for them, but what can we expect our gardens to go through
25:49in the coming days?
25:50Well, here's the weather.
25:56This evening, we'll see a clear night in the north of the county, with temperatures sticking around that humble 15
26:01degrees mark.
26:02Towards the southeast, we'll see cloudy skies, while Royal Tunbridge Wells might expect a misty night.
26:06We'll see rain in the rest of the county towards tomorrow, with temperatures staying around 14 to 16 degrees.
26:15Looking towards our outlook, clear skies on Thursday, with sun expected to peep out from behind the clouds on Friday,
26:21with showers and Saturday looking like cloudy skies. All staying once again in that 20 degrees.
26:34Well, you've been watching Kent tonight live on KMTV.
26:37There's more news made just for Kent throughout the evening.
26:40Don't forget, you can always keep up to date with the latest news from across your county by logging on
26:44to our website, kmtv.co.uk.
26:47You can also follow us on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram so you don't miss any of our stories.
26:52Thank you so much for watching today. I'll see you soon. Goodbye.
26:57See you soon.