IN the current financial cri-


sis I have no strong objection to the continued charge for using the tunnel/bridge on theM25 to cross the Thames – but I amfu- rious about delays of up to two hours on either side to pay my £1.50. The plan is to raise the charge


Motorway queues take a heavy toll MailMarks


DENNIS FOWLE - President Kent Campaigning Journalist of the Year 2001 email: dfowle2011@aol.com


to £2.50 for cars and to lift the toll barriers if queues stretch back further than about 10 miles in either direction. That’s no way to operate this


vital national road artery. The cost in wasted time, wasted fuel, fumes and additional lo- calised congestion is immense. Then there is the great frus- tration and anger of road users. What impression of our nation will this give to Olympic Games visitors?


Complaints grow from both business and private users – and I hear many sad stories. The M25 opened up the rest of Britain to Kent – this debacle is tending to close the north for some. My personal problem will be typical. We have a family link with two little granddaughters


ENTRYwas gained overnight to Daniels Chilled Foods in Bid- denden Road, Headcorn.A number of items were taken, some of which were found dis- carded in a nearby field. Both wing mirrors were stolen


from a silver Mini Cooper parked at a property in Chart- way Street, East Sutton. Theieves took the wheel trims


from a grey Ford Focus parked in Offens Drive, Staplehurst. A white W-reg Transit flat-bed was stolen from a front garden in Green Lane, Chart Sutton. An attempt was


made to remove a wall safe at St Michael & All Angels, Marden. A chainsaw was taken


from a container in Green Lane, Chart Sutton. Damage was caused to a lawn- mower, trailer and other items during in a break-in at Gallants Lane, East Farleigh. Nothing was stolen. Thieves stole a chainsaw, ex- tension leads and two petrol cans from a garden shed at Tilden Cottages, Tilden Lane, Marden. Fishing equipment was taken


from a garden in Vicarage Road, Yalding, A shed in the playground at Headcorn primary school in Kings Road, was damaged in an attempted break-in. A wallet containing cheques/


cards and documentswas stolen from the glove compartment of a van parked outside Cornwallis Academy in Hubbard’s Lane, Boughton Monchelsea. Thieves made off with eight


or 10 red RSJs from New Barn Farm, New Barn Road,


30 South


just north of the tunnel – a jour- ney of about an hour. On really bad days that can be three hours – and the same for the return. That’s not an enticing day out. The toll now is nothingmore


than another form of taxation. The Government has many ways of extracting tax from us – and it needs to take a new look at what is happening at Dart- ford. There has got to be a bet- ter way.  I sent this comment to the


Prime Minister, RoadsMinister, our two Maidstone MPs, KCC leader and Dartford Council leader. So far I have support or sym-


pathy fromHugh RobertsonMP, Paul Carter (KCC) and Jeremy Kite (Dartford leader). Cllr Kite says: “Queues in excess of 10


miles are plainly ludicrous.” Cllr Carter wants electronic charging provided the income goes just to a third Thames crossing.





Maternity madness THE sad date for the death of


the maternity unit and chil- dren’s ward in Maidstone Hos- pital has been set – Thursday, September 22. Then they trans- fer 17 miles away to the new hospital at Pembury. At Maidstone we shall be left


with just a midwife-led birthing unit opening on that same day (taking volunteers expecting a straightforward birth) and a children’s day-care unit operat- ing 8am-8pm Mondays to Fri- day.


Maidstone fought a magnifi-


Hawkenbury. A red mountain bike was


Beat the criminals IF YOU CAN HELP, PLEASE PHONE: Police: 01732 771055 Crimestoppers: 0800 555 111 An attempted burglary took


stolen from a garden in Green Lane, Langley. Corrosive liquid was poured


over a black Vauxhall Zafira sa- loon parked in KnightsWay Headcorn. Two lead planters containing grasses were stolen from Chart Road, Sutton Valence. Some 2,000 litres of oil were stolen from a tank in the rear garden of a


property in East Street, Hunton. An eight-metre length of earthing cable was stolen from Forge Lane, East Farleigh. Eight BT cast iron manhole covers were stolen from near the bridge in Pike Fish Lane, Laddingford. Telephone cable was also damaged. Thieves picked a lock at farm premises in Chart Hill Road, Chart Sutton, overnight and stole a number of motors, in- cluding fan motors. A digger, a boat fuel tank and


a floor saw were stolen overnight from commercial premises in Biddenden Road, Headcorn. Thieves attempted to break in


to a residential property in Haste Hill Road, Boughton Monchelsea, via a rear door. Thieves stole a red Massey Ferguson tractor from the cattle yard area at Parsonage Farm, East Sutton Hill, East Sutton.


place overnight at AJ & T Mail- ing Ltd, White House Farm, Green Lane, Chart Sutton. An attemptwas made to break


into a Portakabin office at El- derden Farm, Chart Hill Road, Staplehurst. Two petrol strimmers were


taken from a barn in Lower Farm Road, Chart Sutton. A trampoline was stolen from


a rear garden in Leonard Gould Way, Loose. Fuel oil was taken from a


tank on the drive of a property inWater Lane, Headcorn. Silverware was discovered missing from a display cabinet at The Green, Boughton Monchelsea. Forty gallons of diesel was


stolen overnight from Moat Farm Buildings, Hunton Road, Marden. A Satnav and personal docu-


ments were stolen from the cab of a van parked in Laddingford, while the driver was occupied at the rear. A six-tonne Nelson dumper


truck was taken from a building site in Sheephurst Lane, Mar- den.


Apairofbinocularswere


taken from a blue Mazda parked in Berwyn Grove, Loose. A mobile phone was stolen


from a property in Chantry Road, Marden. Thieves stole a hedge trimmer


and a chainsaw from a garden shed in Maidstone Road, Sta-


cent battle to keep these serv- ices – and Secretary of State An- drew Lansley’s final decision was devastating and perverse – overturning views of local GPs he originally saw as key. Now many Maidstone resi-


dents are about to pay the heavy price in all sorts of ways. The worst is the danger to women in advanced labour on a journey which can take an hour or more when the going is bad. I feel too for husbands/partners facing nightmare journeys to Pembury. Then there is the end-of-day transfer of in-patient children from Maidstone daycare to Pembury. Hospital patients generally


needmuch support from family and friends. This will be much more difficult to give and comes at a greatly increased cost. The horror stories are about to


start. Maidstone is furious – and will vent its anger from September 22. When things go wrong


please tell the Downs Mail and MASH (Maidstone Action for Services in Hospital). Just write, email or phone the Downs Mail.


plehurst. A battery used to power an electric fence was cut off and stolen from a field off Stockett Lane, Coxheath. A green, N-reg Jeep Cherokee


estate was stolen from The Har- bour, Sutton Valence. A quantity of diesel and a container from a digger were stolen from farm premises at Morry Lane, East Sutton. Red diesel was stolen from a yellow combine harvester in a field between Stick Fast Lane and Jubilee Corner, Headcorn. Overnight in East Sutton


Road, East Sutton, thieves stole a Ferrai Cobrum 50 tractor and an orange Honda rotovator. The tractor was later recovered. A passenger door was dam-


aged on a blue Vauxhall Mon- terey parked overnight in a lay-by in Brishing Lane, Boughton Monchelsea. A black 08-reg Triumph Rocket motorcycle was stolen from a lay-by in Kings Road, Headcorn. Cash, jewellery and a security


box were stolen from a property in Symonds Lane, Yalding, after thieves entered through a patio door. Two aluminium and resin di- rectors chairs were stolen from a field off Lower Road, West Farleigh. A purse containing cash and


bank cards was stolen from High Street, Staplehurst. A three-metre length of elec-


tricity earthing cablewent miss- ing from Beresford Hill, Boughton Monchelsea. A red van parked at the rear


of residential premises in Crispin Court, Coxheath, had its locks forced.


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