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Ex-police offer DIY service


RETIRED police officers with a passion for home maintenance and gardening are taking up tools to give peace of mind to residents and businesses in Maidstone and the surrounding villages. The Blue Local Handymen scheme has been operating in parts of Kent for the past year and moves into the Maidstone area in Febru- ary. It is an attempt to combat the problems caused by cowboy builders and dodgy tradesmen, using the services of ex-policemen and women who have skills in DIY. Most police officers retire after 30


years service and many are still eager to continue playing an active and productive role in their com- munities. All of the Blue handymen have to


prove themselves capable and ex- perienced in home maintenance be- fore joining the network and all are interviewed and DBS (CRB) checked. Blue project MD Nick Orde-


Powlett, said: "Our vetting process is second to none. All of our handy- men are friendly retired police offi-


o


cers with many years working in the community under their belt – and they understand people’s con- cerns better than anyone else." Handyman Dave Hogg said: "I


was a police officer for 32 years and there was rarely a day when I did- n't deal with, or hear about, mem- bers of the local community being ripped off by rogue tradesmen. “Working with Blue gives me the opportunity to redress the balance and provide local people with a service they know they can trust.” For more details and and free


quotes go to www.trustinblue.com. Bookings can be made on 0800 255 0 255 or email helpdesk@trustin- blue.com


orchard dental practice


Emergency Appointments


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q


downsmail.co.uk Recycling total goes up


MAIDSTONE residents are recycling more andwasting less. Theamountof rubbish that house-


holds do not recycle has dropped by almost 20kg from 443kg in 2014 to 424kg in 2015. This has moved the council from 74th to 52nd place out of the 229 English councils responsi- ble forwaste collection. The percentage of all household


recycling is up from 46.56% in 2014 to 49.1% this year, moving the bor- ough up16places from78th to 62nd place in the country. The annual amount of waste per


person in a household has reduced from 352.22kg in 2014 to 351.6kg which means the borough has gone from81st to 75th place nationally. The latest official figures come


from the Government and relate to the year ending March 31, 2015.


Cllr Marion Ring, chair of Maid-


stone Council’s environment com- mittee, said: “It is excellent to see residents recycling more. We hope the Big Maidstone Food Waste Challenge will improve this further.” The challenge is designed to cut


down on the amount of foodwaste. Householdswhosign up will be en-


tered into a quarterly draw for shop- ping vouchers and family swimming vouchers. To sign up, go to www.maid- stone.gov.uk/foodwastechallenge or send your name, address and phone number to: The Big Maidstone Food Waste Challenge, MaidstoneCouncil, BircholtRoad, ParkWood, Maidstone, ME15 9XY. The scheme is funded by a grant


from the Department for Communi- ties and Local Government.


Town looking for adventure


ANEWsurvey suggests that peo- ple from Maidstone have an ad- venturous streak. The highest number of views on day-trip website www.intothe- blue.co.uk from 2012 to 2015were for spa breaks (52), while tank driving came a close second with 47, followed bySegway riding (43),


a visit to the Shard (35), skydiving at 23 and walking with wolves at 22.


At fifth – prompting 24 searches


each –were driving days, gliding, photoshoots, wing-walking, and a session on a zip wire, with more sedate choices, such as afternoon tea, prompting 12.


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