News


downsmail.co.uk Cricket safe at town ground


THE Town Malling Cricket Club (TMCC) is set to be a century not out after signing a lease keep it at itsWest Malling ground for the next 100 years.


The club officially completed pa- perwork on August 28, when or- ganisers invited Lashings World XI to the Old County Ground for two matches. Lashing played and beat the


House of Commons and Lords team, which included Kent MPs Damian Collins and Rehman Chisti. TMCC took on Lashings in the second match of the afternoon which the visiting team – which in- cluded international cricket stars Chris Lewis, John Embury and Tino Best – won by five wickets. The new lease represents hard


work behind the scenes by some key club members of the club and the parish council, and secures cricket at the venue for another hundred years. Aclub spokesman said: “In a time


when participation in cricket is falling for many reasons, this is a welcome boost to the local commu- nity, county and the overall game of cricket.” John Paton, chairman of TMCC


said: “Lashings' welcome return visit to our home ground provided a wonderful opportunity for us to celebrate the signing of this lease. “The new lease acknowledges not only the proud history of TMCC,


Snodland ban


A 60-YEAR-OLD man from Snodland has been banned from the road after a test showed hewas driving while over the drink limit. Walter Smith, fromWillowside,


was stopped on May 29 in Wil- lowside in his Peugeot 307. He gave a blood test of 137mg of alco- hol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg. West Kent Magistrates sen- tenced him on August 23 to a 40- month driving ban and ordered him to pay a £120 fine, £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.


Call for plan


RESIDENTS have told the parish council they want West Malling to have its own neighbourhood plan. More than 50 letters supported a


parish idea to create the document, identifying where homes could be permitted in the area, which would feed into Tonbridge and Malling Council’s overall development plan for the borough for the next 20 to 30 years.


For more local news, community events and information, go online


www.downsmail.co.uk 12


Malling September 2016


The teams put rivalry aside for a photocall, and right, the lease is signed


but also the fantastic work the club does inWest Malling with our suc- cessful junior sides, the provision of our pavilion for use by Kent Adult Social Services for adults with learning disabilities, along with our support of the local community.” Trudy Dean,West Malling Parish Council chairman, said: “The parish council is keen to ensure cricket continues its 300-plus year history on this site. “We are delighted with the suc-


cess of TMCC particularly with the juniors teams, with signing of the new lease at the Lashings match es- pecially appropriate. It gives the cricket club a sound base for the fu- ture. It also enables the pavilion to


be used as a local base for a wide range of day care activities for adults with learning disabilities." She is pictured signing the lease


with Keith Kemsley, life member of TMCC, watched by TMCC presi- dent Seamus Smyth and Chris Pi-


Supermarket boss jailed for £80,000 refund fraud


A LARKFIELD supermarket manager who used bogus refunds to steal £80,000 has been sentenced to 16 months in prison.


Neal Parton,


(left) from Ark- low Square, Ramsgate, ap- peared at Maid- stone Crown Court charged with theft by an employee. The 47-year- old had pleaded


guilty to the charge at an earlier hearing. Investigations by Kent Police de-


tectives found Partonwas a deputy general manager for Morrisons at the company’s Sheppey store when the offences began, and then gen- eral manager of the Larkfield store from July 2015. He left there in No- vember last year. Between August 2014 and No-


vember 2015, Parton had issued a total of 188 refunds to various bank accounts in his name, totalling £80,937.51. An internal audit by Morrisons


highlighted the high number of re- funds and their value and the su- permarket chain notified Kent Police. Parton was arrested by officers


on November 18, 2015. The court heard that a statement


from the supermarket’s investiga- tor told of the effect of the stealing at a time when many businesses in the community had difficuties as- sociated with the economic climate. Parton, who had joined the firm


in 2005, offered to pay back £66,000 of the stolen amount from a pen- sion pot. Investigating officer Detective Constable Lynda Birch, from Kent Police, said: “Parton thought no one would notice what he was doing and that he would get away with stealing little and often from his employers. “But little and often resulted in a significant amount of money being stolen. Parton was in a senior role in the store where hewas meant to lead by example. “This sentence shows that theft,


however offenders chose to do it, will not be tolerated.”


card of Carter Camerons. A Lashings spokesman said: “It


was a smashing day, the weather was great and we got about 1,000 spectators, whichwas fantastic.” The event raised more than £1,300 for the Kent Air Ambulance.


Drugs limit


DRUG driver Glenn Hughes had admitted being under the influence of drugs at the wheel at Medway Magistrates’ Court. On March 10, 2016, the 27-year-


old, of Moor Park Close, Gilling- ham, drove aVauxhall Astra on the M20 atAylesford, and gave a blood test of 4.7 microgrammes of cannabis per litre of blood. The threshold limit is two micro- grammes per litre of blood. Magistrates banned Hughes


from driving for 18 months and or- dered him to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work in the next 12 months. He must also pay £85 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.


WI sweet treat


AYLESFORD and Eccles WI will hold their monthly meeting in the Brassey Rooms, Station Road, Aylesford, at 7.30pm on Wednes- day, October 26. Members will be treated to a


talk (and hopefully some sam- pling) by a representative of Hotel Chocolat. All are very welcome to go along for the evening without any obligation to join. Contact Eileen on 01622 715205 or visit the group’s Facebook page.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48