Sittingbourne

Part of Sittingbourne High Street has had to be evacuated after a partial building collapse.

Revellers in The Sumnor Weatherspoons Pub and The Snooker Sports Bar were evacuated shortly after 6.00pm this evening, following a partial collapse at the rear of their premises that formed part of the old Bell Shopping Centre.

It is understood that there were no injuries involved but that a number of vehicles have been damaged.

Updates to follow >>>>>

Kent Police are still appealing for witnesses to a serious collision in Sittingbourne on the evening of Monday 7th October.

Collision investigators attended the A2 London Road at 7.05pm, after it was reported that a man jogging outside the Coniston Hotel, who had crossed the road had been involved in a collision with a silver Mercedes CLK 320.

The man, believed to be in his 40s, suffered serious head and leg injuries and was taken by road ambulance to a London hospital.

The driver of the car was not injured.

Kent Fire & Rescue (KFRS) firefighters, from Sittingbourne fire station, were called earlier today to tackle a fire in a dutch barn in Tonge.

The KFRS we called shortly afrer 18:15hrs to the dutch barn, situated in Blacketts Road in Tonge, containing approximately 120 tonnes of bayled straw.

A 58-year-old female cyclist suffered serious head injuries, after being hit by a car transporter on Eurolink Way in Sittingbourne earlier today.

Computer-generated images of a man have been released by detectives investigating a spate of distraction burglaries in the Sittingbourne and Newington areas.

All three burglaries, which are being linked by detectives, were reported to Kent Police on Monday 12th August.

A body was found on the mainline near Sittingbourne railway station last night (Monday 12th August) at around 11.15 pm.

British Transport Police have told SFM News: "Officers attended the scene last night and located the body of a man with injuries consistent with having been hit by a train. Medics from the South East Coast Ambulance Service attended but the man, thought to be in his fifties and from the local area, was pronounced dead at the scene. The death is currently being treated as non-suspicious."

Two bus drivers from Sheerness took the top places in the regional final of the Bus Driver of the Year competition, at North Weald Airfield in Essex, on Sunday 28th July.

They were part of a ten-strong contingent from Arriva's Southern Counties region that took part in a series of manoeuvring and theory tests designed to find the best three drivers to represent the company at the national finals of the competition to be held in Blackpool in early September.

Two men have been charged in connection with a rape in Sittingbourne in the early hours of Sunday (14th July) morning.

Kent Police have confirmed that they were called at just before 3.40am on Sunday to reports of a rape of a 36-year-old local woman in Dover Street.

Maksim Volkon, aged 32 and of Merleburgh Drive and Vitalijs Alehovics, aged 26, of Periwinkle Close, both in Sittingbourne, have been jointly charged with rape.

Kent Police have released a computer generated image of a man they would like to speak to in connection with a distraction burglary in Sittingbourne.

Detectives are investigating the incident which is believed to have taken place between 3.40pm and 4pm on Wednesday 3rd July, in Cellar Hill, Lynsted.

Kent County Council (KCC) are planning to change the way they deliver Children's Centre services throughout the county and have begun a consultation on the possible closure of the Woodgrove Children's Centre on Johnson Road here in Sittingbourne

A Press Release from the KCC states that "in the current economic climate efficiency savings must be made, so it is vital that the council sets out a new model for its Children's Centres which is sustainable for the long-term future".