Treated - 17 miles from M20 smash


Offham pensioner


FIVE people who received minor injuries in a M20 pile-up were taken more than 17 miles by ambulance to Pembury even though Maidstone Hospital is only a couple of miles away. The local NHS trust has stated that only emergency trauma cases


are to be taken to the new hospital at Pembury. Last month's incident raised questions about why the crash vic-


tims were not taken from the scene, between junctions 4 and 5, to Maidstone, which still has X-ray services. An ambulance spokesman said: "Trauma patients are treated at trauma units unless a patient's condition is assessed to be time crit- ical in which case they would be taken to the nearest A&E hospi- tal." Adecision to take these particular patients to Pembury was made in case their injuries had been more serious, the spokesman added.


Year 6 pupils Heather Bila and Cameron Morrison meet Pudsey


Pyjamas and Pudsey CHILDREN at Mereworth Com- munity Primary School had a wonderful time wearing pyja- mas to school and meeting Pud- sey on Children in Need day. With the help of their parents,


year 6 youngsters baked an army of Pudsey Bear biscuits. The event raised £310 for the charity.


Bus campaign continues


Continued from page one


substantial subsidy to the route and without a doubt it would cease at the end of the five-year period”. Sir John admitted: “I take Mr Douglas’s point that the full provision of bus services to the new hospital for those living in the Malling area, as envisaged in the existing planning con- sent, does not look to be a very good use of NHS financial re- sources.


“However, I do not think that


the NHS Trust should be al- lowed to have its present finan- cial obligation to provide public transport from the Malling area to be removed en- tirely.” He added: “I hope that bor-


ough councillors give serious consideration to at least some of the funding for bus services for those in the Malling area being retained to finance a vol- unteer hospital car service or perhaps a limited bus, or minibus, service to Pembury.”


Hospital latest - pages22and23


Bluebird landmark MAIDSTONE-based Bluebird Care team has increased its em- ployee numbers from six to 40 since launching in February 2010. The company supplies care workers to more than 90 cus- tomers all of whom live inde- pendently in their own homes thanks to the help and support provided.


8 Malling


Moat Housing officer Peggy Sue Nicholson (third from left) leads her team of workers at the garden project


Volunteers on track to create station garden MORE than 30 people helped create a community garden in the old railway siding at Snodland station. The first task was to clear the area after years of neglect, resulting


in a skip full of rubbish – some interesting,including a doll’s head. Around 60 sacks of vegetation were also collected, filling the


truck that had been lent for the day. The plan is to develop a community-based garden, which will be looked after by residents. The event was organised by Peggy Sue Nicholson from Moat Housing, with the help of Network Rail, the Medway Valley Rail Partnership and Snodland Goes Cleaner. Snodland Town Council chairman Cllr Anne Moloney thanked


all the Moat Housing staff and residents Stephanie Isen, Heather Ellis, Christine Kettle and Helen Reed, as well as Network Rail for making the whole thing possible.


Toy company seeks Aylesford move Continued from page one


10pm each year. Restrictions covering the type


of goods which can be sold would also need to be altered to allow for the sale of toys. Smyths has expanded rapidly


from its launch in 1987 to its cur- rent 21 branches in the Irish re- public and 28 in the UK. The company, which sells children’s toys and entertainment products, says that up to 30 full-time jobs are created at eachnewstore with up to 60 seasonal roles around Christmas. Planning agents Blue Sky Plan-


ning said that Bhs wished to downsize from its current 3,810 sqmat unit 5 to a smaller space of


2,328 sqm. The ownerswere pre- pared to facilitate this provided a viable new unit could be created in the vacated space. The plans have been greeted


with concern by a neighbouring family who have objected strongly on the grounds of noise and disturbance. The family say they have al-


ready had their daily lives and sleep disturbed by the excessive noise from the re-build of nearby Homebase and the re-fitting and development of Currys, and are even closer to the new unit. They are also concerned about


the disturbance from the ex- tended trading hours once the store is open.


died after fall AN INQUEST verdict of acci- dental death was recorded on an Offham pensioner who banged his head in a fall at his home.


Eighty-one-year-old Kenneth Maynard, of North Meadow Cottages, had suffered from Parkinson’s Disease for a long time and had a history of falls going back to 2009. His sister Elsie Evenden, who helped to care for him, said she had visited him at lunchtime on June 25 and he seemed OK when she left him at about 2pm. But when care worker Arthur Branton called later that day, he found Mr Maynard lying face down on the kitchen floor with blood on his face. Mr Maynard was taken by ambulance to Maidstone Hos- pital where he was admitted. He was subsequently trans- ferred to Kings CollegeHospital in London, returning to Maid- stone Hospital after several days, but his condition deterio- rated and he died there on Au- gust 2.


Coroner PatriciaHarding said


that the cause of death was sub- dural haemorrhage, compli- cated by Parkinson’s Disease. She said: “He fell at his home address, sustaining an injury from which he later died. He was susceptible to falling be- cause he had Parkinson’s Dis- ease.”


Teacher found


dead at home RESPECTED science teacher Graham Farrall (57) was found dead at his home in Fielding Drive, Larkfield. He had taught at Cleeve Park School in Sidcup formore than 30 years. Head teacher Jeremy Hodkinson led the tributes. "He was an excellent science teacher and a superb head of department who supported his colleagues to secure some of the highest standards in the school. "Mr Farrall was generous,


warm hearted, cared deeply for his colleagues and students and had an unflnching belief in the power of education to change lives for the better." Police are not treating his


death as suspicious.An inquest has been opened and ad- journed. His estranged wife is Alison Farrall, head of the Discovery School in Kings Hill.


Scouts’ gala night goes swimmingly NINETEEN teams from across the district made a splash at theMalling Cubs and Scouts swimming gala. Winners of the Scouts shield were East Malling-


Leybourne Cubs celebrate with their trophy


based Blacklands who pipped Ightham by just one point. The Cubs trophy was won by Leybourne. The winning Cubs team was Michael Middleton, Samuel Ward, Jack Whybrow, Callum Smith, Jarvis Spratt, Alfie Collins-Smith and Dylan Sallnow. Scout team winners were Jacob Thomas, Seren Asilonu, Kelechi Asilonu and Tom Horton.


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