Alan’s gamble A YALDING man whose hopes of winning £500,000 on a TV game show were dashed in front of millions of viewers still has his sights set on an on- screen career. Alan Sawyer (65), from Stately Park, came within inches of getting his hands on the top prize when he appeared on Ant and Dec’s Saturday night nailbiter “Red or Black”. But the granddad of 15 plumped for black – and the roulette ball came up red, dash- ing his hopes of coming home with a life-changing cheque. Alan and his wife Linda (63) would have bought themselves a new house and a Harley Davidson, but instead he plans to focus on furthering his hobby as a TV and film extra.


Cut your speed SPEED fiends in the Weald have been warned that they are being watched. Yalding Parish Council’s Speedwatch volunteers have been out and about monitoring traffic in Yalding and Ladding- ford.


Meantime, Valerie Under-


down in Chart Sutton wants people who can devote a cou- ple of mornings a month, four times a year, to record speeds of passing vehicles. Those who can help can call her on 01622 843232.


Vandals hit station car park


VANDALS who target cars at Yalding Station car park could soon be caught on camera. Police, the parish council and


the community rail project offi- cer are working together to im- prove security, following a spate of incidents at the unmanned village station. The free car park (pictured) is


a favourite with commuters who need to get to Maidstone, Lon- don or further afield while avoid- ing the car parking charges at nearby PaddockWood. Ian Paterson, from Kent Com- munity Rail Partnership, said: “Following the exit of the ten- ant from the station building a few years ago and the demoli- tion of the adjacent Syngenta works, the station has been left in a somewhat desolate area that has left it prone to crime.” Southeastern has offered the building as a community let, but it has so far failed to attract a new tenant. The northern part of the Med-


wayValley Line, fromMaidstone to Strood, has had each station equipped with a comprehensive system of CCTV cameras, but in the rural south part, from East Farleigh to Paddock Wood, this has not been the case. Yalding Parish Council alerted


the Community Rail Partnership to the security problems when they started last year.


“Itappearsanumberofcars


were damaged last year in the car park, resulting in very few people willing to risk parking there,” said Mr Paterson. “In re- cent times, the number parking has gradually increased again and we assumed the problem might have receded.” The Kent Community Rail Partnership, Southeastern and others had discussed a number


of possible improvements to Yalding Station, including CCTV coverage, but these had hinged on there being some S106 monies available towards the costs from development of the Syngenta site. Mr Paterson said: “As this ap-


pears to have hit a number of problems in the planning stages and does not look like coming to fruition in the near future, Yald- ing Parish Council has proposed a portable CCTV to improve the situation in the interim.” The council is awaiting ap- proval from Southeastern to take the idea further. It has also asked for a sign to be installed at the station giving contact de- tails of the British Transport Po- lice, which is now being considered as part of Southeast- ern’s review of signage along the whole line.


‘Damage affected my business’ EARLIER this year, Frances Shaw,who runs Village Footcare, left her car at the station to go to a business meeting in London. Shereturned to find the driver’s and passenger side windowsofher car smashedand her satnav (whichhad been hidden in thearmrest console) stolen. Frances, who runs amobile footcare service, said: “Not only was this


an inconvenience to me but to all my clients that I had booked in, as I couldn’t get the repairs done for three days. It’s not easy to offer a mo- bile service when you are immobilised.” She added: “What a shame we cannot use our local station for fear


that when we return our car may not be in one piece, due to mindless vandalism.”


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