Pupils pick play area plans
CHILDREN from Snodland Church of England Primary School have been busymeasuring the play area at the recreation ground and planning what they would like to see there if they had £30,000 to spend. Their ideas were shown to town council chairman Cllr Anne Moloney when she visited the school. Top among their choices were a rotor swing and a climbing
wall, and they also asked for balance equipment, slides and climbing fames. The council is hoping to apply for grants to help renew play equipment. Parents from a support group to improve the play areas are looking to re-paint equipment to give it a facelift. See Town Talk for more details.
Farmers go private FARMERS are turning to pri- vate security firms to try to put the brake on machinery thefts. Rural areas around Maid-
stone are among the worst hit, along with sites across west Kent.
Farms have become targets
for organised gangs and stolen tractors and other expensive equipment are being shipped off to Eastern Europe. Now farmers are joining
forces to pay private companies for extra security. One firm, Precreate Security, provides 24- hour mobile patrols as part of its service. Spokesman Gary Jackson
said: “We have installed sen- sors to alert us to intruders.We can be on site within minutes of an alarm being triggered or from a client call-out.”
Mother in court A SNODLAND mother has ap- peared in court after fraudu- lently claiming nearly £17,000 in benefits. Barbara Thompson (61), of Thomson Close, was given a conditional discharge for two years by Sevenoaks magistrates. She had claimed housing and council tax benefit from Ton- bridge and Malling Council as a single person, but did not de- clare that her son and daughter also lived at her property for a number of years. Thompson, who admitted benefit fraud, had been over- paid £16,769.26. Court chairman Abigail Bren-
nan said the sentence reflected that she had pleaded guilty and had already started to repay the money.
Want a free stall? HAS your club or charity signed up for a free stall at the family fun day in the Millen- nium Park at this year’s Maid- stone River Festival on July 30? Contact Maidstone Lions Club, on
m.w.luxton@
btinternet.com or 01795 841439.
Fun of the fete TROTTISCLIFFE is holding a traditional village fete on July 2 from noon to 3pm. Activities will include a brass band, dancers, dog show, pony rides and good home made food. Info - 01732 824672
18 Malling
May starts with a bang as Offham celebrates
THE sun shone and the hard work paid off as the Offham May Day celebra- tion passed off success- fully.
More than 1,000 visitors attended this year’s event, which encompassed the traditional crowning of the May queen as well as Mor- ris dancers and school dancing around theMay- pole.
There was also a modern
May Day in Offham (clock- wise from top): Bells jingle as Morris dancers per- form; clown- ing around; a dog is put through its paces and the May queen and court.
DITTON Twinning Association is appealing for French speakers in the parish to help provide a welcome for visitors from its twin town. The town band and majorette troupe from Rang-du-Fliers, in the Nord-Pas de Calais re- gion, will be taking part in the annual commu- nity day open-air service on Sunday, June 26, and the entertainment which follows. The association has asked for residents who speak French to give up an hour or two to
theme with a steel band, limbo dancing, gymnastic display, dog show and many more events. Offham May Day chair-
man Ian Barwick said: “We raised several thousand pounds for good causes in Offham village by running an online auction linked to the day, with features such as a super car experience, flights and football tickets to Chelsea and Arsenal, as well as money taken on the day through the various stalls selling local produce, books and cakes.”
Parlez-vous Francais? Plea for French-speaking locals
“mingle and converse” with the visitors, and generally make them feel welcome to Ditton. The group will be at the community centre at around 10am and will have lunch at noon, when parishioners may join them for a small contribution towards the cost. The band and majorettes will march to the village green to take part in the service at 3pm and will stay until around 6pm. If you can help, call 01732 842458.
To contact Downs Mail just phone 01622 630330
Choose a charity walk to suit you DIG out your walking shoes and take part in a charity event being organised by Malling District Lions. The club is holding a walk day on Sunday, August 21, in aid of
the Prostate Cancer Support Association (Kent). There will be three distances to choose from to suit everyone’s capabilities, all starting from East Malling Research. The entrance is opposite the King and Queen pub. PSA (Kent) is an association of local groups offering advice, in- formation and support to people living with prostate cancer. Walks will start from 9am to noon and will be mainly on wide
paths suitable for social walking. Dogs on leads will be welcome. For pre-registration, contact 01732 841078, email michaelchap-
man239@btinternet.com or send an SAE to Lions CharityWalk, 259 Wateringbury Road, East Malling, ME19 6JE.
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