Festival delight despite fund cut


Hockey champions MAIDSTONE Ladies’ first team have been promoted back to the national hockey league. Two seasons ago they were


relegated to East Region Pre- mier League, but have bounced back. They beat Holcombe 7-1 in


their last match of the season to take the title by eight points, having won 21 and lost only one of their 22 games. The ladies face Canterbury


Annual river festival now set togoahead as planned


MAIDSTONE Council is cut- ting its financial support for the town’s river festival and the multicultural Mela. Funding for both events will


come from a budget previously set aside to support the St George’s Day parade plus an uncommitted arts development budget. River festival chairman Mar-


tin Cox said it was “ab- solutely fantastic” to get £10,000, which means the event can go ahead for the 32nd year, on Saturday July 30. The cost to the council of the


river festival over the past three years has been £12,552 (2010), £11,341 (2009) and £13,178


(2008). In previous years, the council


has funded the Mela to the tune of £23,017, £17,423 and £21,906. It is to get £16,000 this year.


Last year, a Saturday after-


noon event supporting St George’s Day, which was held in Brenchley Gardens, cost the council £8,753. It attracted up


in the Kent Cup final on Sun- day May 8, at Canterbury. This is their fifth consecutive final, having won three.


to 3,000 people, though a coun- cil officer’s report said the eco- nomic benefit was not thought to be high. The council will support the Scouts’ parade and church serv- ice as a key civic event but, as they do not require a financial contribution, the £15,000 budget will be transferred to the other two events.


AFORMER assistant chief constable of Kent has been found hanged. David Ainsworth, who left the county in 2008


after four years in the post to becomeWiltshire’s deputy chief constable, was being investigated for professional misconduct.


Beat the criminals IF YOU CAN HELP, PLEASE PHONE: Police: 01622 690690 Crimestoppers: 0800 555 111


TWO‘bulldog’ garden orna- ments were taken from a prop- erty in Farleigh Hill, Tovil.


Three Mitsubishi


air conditioning units were stolen from St Simon Stock Catholic School, Oakwood Park. A handbag con- taining cash, bank cards and a driving licence was stolen from the Mid Kent Shopping Centre, Castle Road, Allington. Front and rear number plates


were stolen from an Astra van parked in Victoria Street. A Blackberry phone was


stolen from a semi-detached property inWell Road. A blue Peugeot 306, registra-


tion R929AKJ, was stolen from a car park in Clarendon Place, King Street – a horse saddle and girth were in the vehicle. In Melville Road an en bloc garage door was forced and a fireplace and surround stolen. Earthing cable were stolen


fromWallis Place, Hart Street. Thieves stole a grey Fire Mountain mountain bike from a rear garden shed in Alexan-


38 Town


dra Street. Computer equipment was stolen from a property in Cherry OrchardWay. Two males rode off


on a cycle after snatching a mobile phone from a per- son in Marion Cres- cent, Shepway. A lawn mower was


stolen from a shed in Barnhurst Road, Penen-


den Heath. AMakita grinder, work boots


and commercial radio equip- ment were stolen from Speedy Line, Tonbridge Road. Fishing equipment was


taken from a vehicle in Fingle- sham Court, Shepway. A vacuum cleaner and a tool


bag were taken from a silver Toyota pick-up in Westmor- land Road. Work tools were taken from a


white Ford Transit pick-up in Hereford Road. The Satnav was taken from a


Ford Transit pick-up parked in Lancashire Road, Shepway, A Giant bicycle secured by a


chain and lock to a lamppost in Station Road was stolen. Two credit cards in a postal packet were taken from a post


Catherine has


final in her sights A MAIDSTONE student has been short-listed for Amnesty International’s Young Human Rights Reporter of the Year award.


Catherine Leonard (18), from Oakwood Park Grammar School, has made it to the final 10 in the competition, run by Amnesty International UK and the secondary school education weekly, SecEd. Catherine wrote about Guan- tanamo Bay for the competi- tion, which attracted nearly 600 entries on human rights-related issues from young people aged 14 to 18. The top three in each of the


competition’s two categories – upper secondary and sixth form – will be invited to the finals ceremony in London on May 19, with two of their class- mates, a parent or guardian and a teacher. The winner’s work will be


showcased at Amnesty’s annual Media Awards in central Lon- don in front of the nation’s top journalists on May 24.


‘Nothing suspicious’ about ex-county police chief’s death Mr Ainsworth was removed from regular du-


ties last September. He was said to be facing up to 24 allegations, mostly from women. His body was discovered at his rented accom- modation. His death is not being treated as suspicious.


box in Pudding Lane. A mobile phone and an iPod


were stolen from Clare Park in Tonbridge Road. An air conditioning unit was


stolen from LA Fitness in St Peter’s Street. Heavy wooden gates were


stolen from a house driveway in Oxford Road, Shepway. A chop saw and an old rac-


ing bicycle were stolen from a garage in Church Street, Tovil. Toys and games were stolen


from a home in Cranbourne Avenue, Shepway, after the front door was forced. A traffic lights battery was


stolen from Queens Road, and cables were damaged. Cash was stolen from resi- dential premises in St Georges Square, Fant. The windscreen of a Renault Kangoo was smashed and the door levered in the car park at Shepway Court, Shepway. A games console and clock


were among items stolen from a flat in Sunningdale Court, Square Hill. A laptop, iPod and jewellery


were stolen from a property in Tonbridge Road. Scaffolding poles were taken


from Woodford Road, Fant.A white Renault lorry was thought to have been involved. A mobile phone was stolen


from the Lotus House in Ton- bridge Road. Cash was stolen from Park-


To contact Downs Mail just phone 01622 630330


01622 716222 www.amiga.uk.com


INTRUDER ALARMS • ACCESS CONTROL CCTV • SECURITY LIGHTS • FIRE ALARMS


wood Service Station, Sutton Road. The vehicle licence from a


blue Yamaha scooter parked in Beaconsfield Road, Tovil, was stolen. Two bicycles were taken


from a garden shed in Boxley Road, Penenden Heath. The ignition barrel and power tools were stolen from a red Vauxhall Rascal van parked in Alexandra Street. A silver Trek cycle and hel-


met chained to railings outside Trugym, Broadway Shopping Centre, were stolen. A shrub and flowerpots were


stolen from the front garden of a residential property in Courtenay Road. A mahogany five-drawer


chest of drawers was stolen from outside Global Treasures, High Street. A black and gold Sinnis Apache motorcycle was stolen from a lay-by in Terminus Road.


TOUGH SECURITY • FRIENDLY SERVICE


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