News Lorry blaze


DRIVERS faced long delays after a lorry carrying sand caught fire on the M20 slip road at junction 8. The A20 town-bound was re-


duced to a crawl following the fire during the morning rush hour, which blocked the slip road to the A20 Ashford Road for several hours. The disruption affected Bearsted


and Leeds, with traffic slow in both directions.


Track alert


THE Kent Air Ambulance was scrambled to Maidstone West rail station following reports of a body on the tracks. The helicopter landed in Row-


land Close, behind the station and joined other emergency crews in- cluding South East Coast Ambu- lance Service. However, the “body” turned out to be a discarded coat and bag.


Death in town


A PENSIONER in her 80s died in a town centre opticians. Policewere called to the premises


in Middle Row, Maidstone, follow- ing concerns for herwelfare. An ambulance crew was scram-


bled but attempts revive her were unsuccessful.


downsmail.co.uk Milkman Philip retires


MILKMANPhilip Collins is look- ing forward to a lie-in after being up with the lark for the last 43 years. After enjoying more than 10,000 sunrises and delivering some 10 million pints, the Maidstone milk- man, from Sandling, is looking for- ward to time with his family. Colleagues and friends paid trib-


ute to a modest, hard-working man who they said had always been a team player. Philip (64) became a milkman


after leaving the Merchant Navy and has clocked up thousands of miles with UK-wide business milk&more. Philip (pictured) has become a fa- miliar sight in the Maidstone area


as he delivered pints and conven- ience store essentials to residents of the county town.


Ofsted praise for childminder


A CHILDMINDER from Maidstone is celebrating her second successive “outstanding” rating from Ofsted. Nicola Jane Chilman scored top


marks across the board, winning the praise of the inspector for her childminding operation at her home inMilton Street, Fant, which she started in 2004. The 45-year-old mum-of-two was


praised for her highly effective “settling-in procedure”, her wealth of knowledge and for being an excellent role model. Mrs Chilman (right) said: “I am so pleased with the result. I was a little worried when I learned that Ofsted had raised the bar and the outstanding result I achieved last time was harder to reach.”


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1-3 Tonbridge Road, Barming, Maidstone, Kent ME16 9HB * Terms and conditions apply. 4 Maidstone Town May 2016 He will hand over his round to


Dave Hornsbury butwanted to say thank you to his loyal customers. He said: “I’ve really enjoyed my


time as a milkman and I’ll be sad to say goodbye to it, but I wish Dave all the best. I know he’ll look after the customerswell.” Philip says he is looking forward


to spending more time in the gar- den and keeping his wife company in their retirement. Neil Mackinnon, manager of the


Parkwood depot, said: “Philip’s been a great member of the team here at milk&more. “He’s a modest man but has al-


ways been a great team player and we all wish him well in his retire- ment – he deserves all the best.”


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