Three villages put in focus ANYONE wanting a Christmas present that will bring memories flooding back should add Ray Sturgeon’s “Pic- torial Views of Aylesford, Eccles & Burham” to their wish list. Ray, who has lived in Eccles all his life, is one of the best-known amateur historians in this part of Kent His book, illustrated with more than 200 photographs –


some well over 100 years old – tells a personal, folk his- tory of the area’s people and places. Demand for the 128-pager has been good and Ray is thankful to Dilip and Veena for selling many copies at the Eccles village shop. Ray has been doing a round of book-signings and on


Wednesday, December 15, he will be at the Toastmasters Inn, Church Street, Burham, from 6pm-9pm. He has raised around £8,000 for charity with exhibitions


of his pictures and his 2009 calendar raised £3,230 for the British Heart Foundation.


A RED BMX bicycle in need of repair was stolen from the rear garden of a property in May Street, Snodland. Apair of tortoise-shaped gar-


den ornaments was taken from the front garden of a home in Goldings Close, Kings Hill. At least three garden sheds belonging to properties in Old Road, East Peckham, were bro- ken into, but it appeared that only a pair of tree-loppers were taken. The front window of a prop-


erty in Swallow Road, Lark- field, was cracked and the wheelie bin knocked over. Dur- ing this time youths were heard in the street. Crops and fencing were dam-


aged by a vehicle that tres- passed on fields off Paddlesworth Road, Snodland. Five plants in terracotta pots


were stolen from a front garden in Goldings Close, Kings Hill. A garden gnome with wheel- barrow was taken from the front of a property in Cantium Place, Snodland. This was a re- peat crime. Soft drinks and eggs were


stolen from a marquee at the rear of a shopping arcade in High Street, West Malling. This was a repeat crime. While the assistant was at


the back, a white male, approx 5ft 6in with short blonde hair, stole cash from a handbag be- hind the counter of a shop in High Street,West Malling. A television was taken from


the common room of student accommodation in Maidstone Road,West Peckham. A male described as dark Eu- ropean, aged 25-30, 6ft with short dark brown hair, was dis- covered in the insecure staff- only area of a public house in High Street, West Malling. He was challenged and left, and it was later discovered that two wallets containing bank cards and other personal items were missing. A cat belonging to a resident


in Swallow Road, Larkfield, was shot in the leg with an air gun. Two fishing rods were stolen


from a garage in Kingfisher Road, Larkfield. Also taken was a Honda generator.


24 Malling


Beat the criminals IF YOU CAN HELP, PLEASE PHONE: Police: 01732 771055 Crimestoppers: 0800 555 111 Wine and beer was taken


from an insecure garage in Stir- ling Road, West Malling. A Blackberry and loose change were also stolen from an inse- cure car on the driveway. A wing mirror was taken


from a car parked at the rear of a property in Rectory Lane North, Leybourne. A Skoda estate parked in Saltings Road, Snodland, was broken into and the stereo fas- cia on the console was taken.A witness who saw the incident described two youths, one aged about 16, 5ft 6in with short dark/ginger hair and wearing a duffle-type coat and jeans; the second youth was aged 10-12, 4 ft, wearing a hoodie. An offender being detained at Tesco, Lunsford Park, Larkfield,


for


theft, assaulted one of the secu- rity staff. Lead flashing


was taken from the roof of Pre- ston Hall, Royal British LegionVil- lage. Wooden posts restricting ac-


cess to a field off Paddlesworth Road, Snodland, were broken down. A corrosive substance was thrown over a car parked in Saltings Road, Snodland. A property under construc-


tion in Swan Street, West Malling, was broken into and fixture and fittings stolen. These included a patio door that appeared to have been taken out very carefully. Graffiti was sprayed on a rear


wall of the council offices in Gibson Drive, Kings Hill. A trailer containing yellow


pipes and chained to a tree in Brooklands Road, Larkfield, was stolen. The pipes were later recovered from Sheldon Way but the trailer was still missing.


Cricket outcast


heads for town THE boss of Maidstone's all-star cricket club, Lashings, hoped to have concluded a deal with Pak- istan's refugee wicketkeeper Zukqarnain Haider as the Downs Mail went to press. He fled to the UK last month to


seek asylum after receiving death threats when he refused to fix two one-day international matches. Lashings chairman David Folb


talked to the Downs Mail before he boarded plane to Abu Dhabi. "I have spoken to him quite a lot.


It will have to wait till I come back to finalise things but it looks pretty positive."


A Nintendo DS game was


among the items stolen in a burglary at Covey Hall Road, Snodland. Two bikes were stolen from a


rear garden in Lakeside, Snod- land.


A white male in his early


20s, approx 5ft 10in, un- shaven, wearing a white base- ball cap, a colourful striped jumper, blue jeans and white trainers, was seen to jump over the fence of a property in Horn- beam Close, Larkfield, and leave a few minutes later with a bag of scrap metal taken from the rear garden. Three front gates were taken


from The Freehold and two from Pound Road, in East Peckham. A scanning device was placed on the ATM machines at one of the banks in Lark- field. It was later removed. A property in Water Lane,


West Malling, was broken into and among items taken were a diamond cluster ring and a barometer in a wooden frame. A blackboard at


the rear of a restaurant in High Street, Aylesford, was tagged with graffiti. A distraction burglar tricked his way into a vulnera- ble resident’s property


in London Road, Ditton, claim- ing to be part of a company doing building work to her property. While unattended in the house, he took a purse con- taining money. The woman eventually became suspicious and asked the man to leave. He was seen by a neighbour to drive off in a silver Ford Focus but returned moments later and handed the victim’s purse, with all contents still intact, to the neighbour. The offender was described as a white male, aged 35-40 with short dark brown hair, white and green striped polo shirt and jeans. A car stereo was stolen from


a vehicle at Taylors Lane, Trot- tiscliffe. A Satnav was taken from an insecure car in Carp Close, Leybourne.


Visit Downs Mail’s website — downsmail.co.uk Offenders used a sledgeham-


mer to damage the roof and wall of the Tesco Extra in Lunsford Park, Larkfield. They tried to gain access to the safe and cash machine but nothing was taken. There were also 13 at- tempted shoplifts from the shop; every culprit was caught. Alarge quantity of telephone


cable was stolen from roadside boxes in Hatches Lane, East Peckham. Items including loose change


and a Garmin SatNav were taken from two cars on a drive- way in Queen Street, Kings Hill. An offender was caught with cannabis at Larkfield Leisure Centre, New Hythe Lane. Two sensor security lights


were damaged outside a prop- erty in Wheatfield, Leybourne. A radio was stolen from a car parked near a garage block in Saltings Road, Snodland. A box containing jewellery


was stolen from a property in Swallow Road, Larkfield. A brick was thrown through


the window of the front door of a property in Saltings Road, Snodland. Overnight the fol- lowing day, another windowin the door was smashed. Two laptops, a video recorder and camera were stolen in a break-in at Chart- fieldWay, East Malling. A property in Birling Road, Snodland, was broken into and a laptop, a box containing jew- ellery and a large amount of cash were taken. A property was broken into


in Acorn Grove, Ditton. Noth- ing was taken but it was be- lieved the house alarm disturbed the intruder. A property in Godden Road, Snodland, was burgled and a handbag and wallet containing cash, cards and other personal items, were taken. Also stolen were the keys for a blue Mer- cedes 180, which was then stolen from the drive.


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