Big maternity campaign blow


CAMPAIGNERS have had to accept defeat over securing a judicial review of the decision on Maidstone’s maternity services. But they say the battle goes on. MASH - Maidstone Action for Services in Hos-


pital - launched a public fighting fund and worked with MP Helen Grant, doctors, council- lors and newspapers for a review of Health Sec- retary Andrew Lansley’s decision to allow full, consultant-led maternity services to be switched to the newPembury Hospital - leaving Maidstone with only a midwife-led service. The legal advice was that the challenge would


be too risky. With the high level of proof re- quired, there was less than a 50% chance a judge would find against Mr Lansley. MASH chairman Dennis Fowle said: “We may


not beat him on legal grounds but morally he should be ashamed.” The case would have cost about £30,000 – and


more than double that if it were lost. Over £10,000 had already been pledged or given to the fund, which has now closed. MASH and local politicians are now pressing for 24-hour consult- ant-led obstetrics and 24-hour consultant-led in- patient children’s services at Maidstone Hospital.


New archdeacon’smany gifts


MAIDSTONE will have a new archdeacon from September. Rev Canon Stephen Tay- lor will move from his role as Canon Provost of Sunderland Minster and Hon- orary Canon of Durham Cathedral. The 55-year-old, married to Julie, will be responsible for the church's work with communities, including forming partner- ships with local authorities and voluntary groups. Bishop Trevor of Dover said: "Stephen


brings many gifts, experience and real pas- sion to this role."


Warning after purse stolen


SHOPPERS have been warned to be extra vigilant after a woman was robbed in a store car park at Kings Hill. The victim had just loaded her shopping into her car outside


Asda in Alexander Grove when she was distracted by a couple who asked directions to France. The pair were in what is thought to be a black Peugeot which pulled up alongside her. The man remained in the vehicle while the woman passenger got out and asked theway to the nearest port. She put a map on the bonnet, saying they were trying to get to France. When the shopper returned to her car after talking for five min-


utes, she found that her purse, containing cash and credit cards, had been taken. Detective Sgt Jason Booth said: “Always be wary of someone try-


ing to talk to you when you are loading your car. If you are happy to speak to them make sure you lock the car first.”


Buddha stolen SEVENconcrete birdbaths and a Buddha statue were stolen from Aylesford Nurs- ery in Rochester Road, Aylesford. The garden ornaments vanished some time be- tween 4.30pm on Sunday, March 20, and 9am next day. The concrete Buddha figure is described as being 4ft tall and very heavy, so it is thought that more than one person would have been needed to move it. Contact police on 01732 379217.


Light fingered THIEVES took a battery, used for running temporary traffic lights, from a lay-by in PilgrimsWay, close to the junction with Chatham Road, near the Lower Bell public house in Aylesford. Info - 01732 379217.


12 Malling


Stablesplan concern WEST Malling Parish Council has raised concerns over the proposed erection of five stables, hay room and tack room on land opposite 170 Offham Road. Members expressed fears about access to the site, which they would prefer to be from Offham Road rather than St Leonards Street, given the latter’s traffic prob- lems.


Negative feedback was also made


about the proximity to neighbour- ing dwellings and to Grade I listed St Leonard’s Tower. It was sug- gested that moving the proposal 50 yards to the east should be encour- aged.


Members were aware that some neighbours had expressed disquiet about overlooking of their proper- ties, and further concerns were made about security and the stor- age and disposal of manure. Tonbridge and Malling Council


will decide on the planning appli- cation.


Birthing unit by


September WORK has now started on building the new stand-alone birthing unit at Maidstone Hospital and is scheduled to be completed by September when consultant-led births will be transferred to Pem- bury Hospital. It is expected to take 200-


250 births a year – a choice made by women who are ex- pecting births with no com- plications.


‘100 bus’ marks M&D milestone


ARRIVA has unveiled a bus painted in the once-familiar green and cream colours of its predecessor, The Maidstone & District Motor Services Ltd, to mark the centenary of the company’s for- mation. Maidstone mayor Cllr Eric Hotson and other invited guests assembled at the Kent Life museum at Aylesford on March 22, exactly 100 years to the day that M&D commenced trading from a yard in Maidstone, as the bus went on public viewfor the first time.


M&D was absorbed into the


Arriva Group in 1998, but much of the network of serv- ices still provided by Arriva have their origins in routes which were started many years ago by M&D. Arriva’s publicity manager Richard Lewis said: “One hundred years is a very signif- icant time for a company to maintain continuous trading and, whilst the buses are now blue instead of green and car- rying the Arriva name, we owe the longevity of our busi- ness to the pioneering bus- men of the early 20th century and to the generations of bus- men and women who fol- lowed them over the ensuing nine decades. “M&D was a major em- ployer in the region, as Arriva is now, and most local people probably know someone who worked ‘on the buses’.” The centenary bus has been painted in the final version of M&D’s livery, which was in- troduced at the start of 1997, a year before the transition into Arriva. The vehicle will be seen on routes around Maidstone, Tun-


The company expanded rapidly after the First WorldWar, with a fleet of 900 vehicles at one time. It employed many thousands of people over the years at depots stretching from Favershamin the east across to Bexhill on the Sussex coast.


Fromleft: Arriva publicity manager Richard Lewis, KCC head of transport David Hall and Maidstone mayor Cllr Eric Hotson.


bridgeWells and Tonbridge and was one of more than 50 former M&D buses and coaches on display at a Kent Showground event to celebrate the centenary.


Benefit cheat mum claimed £4,800


A LARKFIELD woman has been ordered to complete a community order of 100 hours unpaid work for committing benefit fraud. Dawn Croud, 40, of Brooklands Road, was also ordered to pay


£75 costs for failing to declare to Tonbridge and Malling Council and the Department for Work and Pensions that she was working while receiving benefits as a lone parent. Maidstone magistrates were told that Croud, who admitted two charges, fraudulently claimed £4,872.89 in income support, hous- ing and council tax benefits. She will have to repay this in full. Cllr David Aikman, the borough council’s cabinet member for fi- nance, said: “People who cheat the benefit system defraud us all and there is absolutely no excuse for it. Our benefit investigation team will continue to follow up every lead to ensure that fraudsters are caught and brought to justice.”


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