Local News

Detectives, investigating a report of a man acting suspiciously in the Milton Regis area several weeks ago, have issued an efit image of a man they would like to speak to.

It is reported that a 12-year-old girl was walking through the graveyard near Green Porch Close at around 7.10am on Tuesday 5th January when a man approached her and reached out towards her arm. The girl ran off.

The man is described as white, aged between 30 and 40, 6ft tall, of large build and had a beard. He was described as wearing a black hoodie, jogging bottoms and woolly hat.

Detective Constable Stuart Tracey, the investigating officer at Kent Police, told the SFM News Team: "We have issued an E-fit image of a man we would like to speak to and are also particularly keen to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time of the incident as their information may be able to assist with our ongoing enquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding this incident.'

Witnesses to the incident, or anyone who recognises the man in the efit image, is asked to contact DC Stuart Tracey directly at Kent Police by calling 01795 419119 or they can call free (from any landline) and anonimously on 0800 555 111 and should quote crime reference: XY/000507/16.

Stock Picture

Firefighters had to use hydraulic rescue equipment to help release a woman earlier this evening (Thursday 14th January) who was trapped following a crash on the M2 coast-bound between junctions 1 (Rochester, Gillingham and Grain) and 2 (Strood).

Kent Fire & Rescue Service (KFRS) were called at 19.09hrs to the scene. The driver was removed from the vehicle and passed in to the care of the South East Coast Ambulance Service.

Motorway traffic was not disrubted during the incident due to the time of day.

The current problems on the A249 Northbound, just before Sittingbourne at the Key Street Underpass, look set to continue until the weekend.

In a Statement issued by Southern Water this afternoon to 106.9 SFM they confirm that: "works to replace a burst main on the A249 will take around five days, with completion on Sunday 17th January.
Water supplies remain unaffected and we would like to reassure our customers that we have a contingency plan in place to ensure we can continue to supply water as usual. We appreciate this has an had an impact on road users and apologise for the inconvenience to their daily journeys. Our crews are working around the clock to fix the problem as quickly as possible and we would like to thank drivers for their patience while this vital work is carried out".

Southern Water's engineers are working to repair the burst main and this will include the installation of a replacement water mains. All of this work is being undertaken beneath the carriageway and is not visible to road users. Using specialist equipment they are directionally drilling under the road with excavation works being carried out in adjacent fields.

After these works have been carried out Southern Water have confirmed that they "must ensure the water supply is safe for public consumption by carrying out strict water quality sampling. This will take between one to two days, depending on the results of the tests. Once the work is complete Highways England will have to carry out an assessment of the structural integrity of the highway to ensure it is safe for road users".

Kent Fire and Rescue Service were called to a fire in a first floor bedroom of a semi-detached property on Purple Emperor Grove in Iwade earlier this afternoon (Friday 1st January).

On arrival fire crews found a bedroom on fire and used breathing apparatus, a hose reel jet, thermal imaging camera and a ventilation fan to tackle the blaze and clear the property of smoke.

The fire was accidental and it's believed it was caused by a cable, similar to a USB cable, that was plugged in to the power where the wire insulation had completely being burnt off.