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Bus chaos leaves pupils stranded
YOUNGSTERS are hoping their troubled first day of term is not a taste of what 2017 has in store for themwhenit comes to catching the bus to school. Students at Kings Hill waited
nearly an hour for Arriva’s 575 serv- ice into Maidstone, and to schools, before giving up and getting friends and family to run them in. One pupil, who started at Oak-
wood Park last term, said it had taken the number of late marks against his name on the school reg- ister to nine. Hewas amongdozens of students
who catch the 575 from the area, in- cluding those in Snodland, West Malling,Aylesford and Barming, to get to this and other schools such as Invicta School and Maidstone Grammar. Kevin Root,Arriva’s general man-
ager in Maidstone, apologised, blaming a mechanical fault with the vehicle’s suspension for the no-
show, and for not posting any de- tails of the cancellation on the com- pany’s social media site. Headded: “Ordinarily,we would
have several vehicles in reserve and would have been able to dispatch a replacement, but because we knew it was going to be a busy morning all our other vehicles were needed to help manage the back-to-work and school rush.” Mr Root said the need to inform passengers of the cancellation had been “overlooked”, but was being investigated, adding: “We are look- ing at ways to ensure this does not happen again, but this particularly hectic situation is very rare.” The lack of a bus for youngsters heading to schoolwas just one of the transport problems on the first day of term, with tailbacks on the M20 London-bound after an accident near Junction 3 and further chaos caused by a burst water main out- side Tesco’s in Larkfield.
Mother’s sepsiswarning
AN EAST Mallingmumwhose son nearly died of sepsis has attracted huge support after launching a campaign to raise awareness of the condition. As well as publicising the details of her son Dexter’s brush
with
death on social media, Kayleigh Moorcroft-Jones has also notified the press and handed out leaflets on the condition. She said: “Iwant to raiseawareness of sepsis and the symptoms in young
children, aftermy beautiful six-day-old sonwas rushed to hospital with the condition, caused by bronchiolitis and a collapsed lung. “I had heard of sepsis, but Iwasn’t aware of the severity of it until now.” She added: “My son fell asleep as newborns do, and then I couldn’twake
him. Hewas cold and blue and Iwas petrified.” Kayleigh (27) is advising anyonewhosuspects that their child might have
the condition oranyof the symptoms, which includearash, difficulty breath- ing, bruising around the lips or eyes and a poor appetite to call 999. She added: “Don’t be silly, like me, and not call an ambulance because you think someonemay need it more. Itmay have been so much worse.”
New mum inquest continues
ANinquest into the death of Offham Primary School teacher Frances Cappucciniwas still in progress as Downs Mail went to press. The inquest, which was expected to last 10 days, has heard from a number of staff from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, whose care shewas under when she died in October 2012. Affectionately known by her pupils as Mrs Coffee, and Frankie to
her friends, the 30-year-old mum died after suffering a haemorrhage following the birth of her second son, now aged four, by Caesarean section at Pembury Hospital. Her husband Tom, fromWest Malling, has been among those giv-
ing evidence to coroner Roger Hatch as part of the hearing in Gravesend.
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