News


Drunk jailed A DRIVER who used his car in


Maidstone while over the drink limit and already on a ban has been jailed. Medway Magistrates heard that Mark Kingshott (43) had 56mg of al- cohol in 100ml of breath when he was stopped on the London Road. Kingshott, of Newport in Wales, had no car insurance and later failed to surrender to bail.


He admitted the charges and was sentenced to 137 days in prison and banned from driving for three years.


Ivanov charge A MAN from Maidstone has been


charged following a burglary in Al- bany Street in the town. Dmitrij Ivanov (30), from Lower Fant Road, was charged on January 17 with burglary, theft and fraud fol- lowing the alleged incident on Janu- ary 16. He was due to appear Maidstone Magistrates’ Court.


Housing leer MP HELEN Whately has appealed


for action to stop London authorities buying Maidstone property to house their homeless.


She has written to housing minis- ter Gavin Barwwell saying two au- thorities in the capital bought Star House, without the local council having a chance to bid for it.


downsmail.co.uk


MP’s petition bid to stop closure of town barracks


MAIDSTONE and Weald MP Helen Grant is launching a petition calling on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to reverse its decision to close Invicta Park Barracks. The MP says the petition follows concern about the negative impact the Ministry of Defence decision will have on 800 service personnel and their families, as well as the county town’s economy and community. Mrs Grant said: “I know that


many local people are concerned about the decision to close Invicta Park Barracks, breaking centuries of military tradition in Maidstone. There is also great affection for the town’s vibrant Nepalese community and local people are wanting to show their support for them.” As well as the petition, she is also working to establish a platform for people to voice their opposition. She added: “Iamsending a survey


to about 10,000 randomly selected addresses in central Maidstone to allow people to share their views about the proposed closure and I en- courage everyone to take part.” The petition, which had almost


A wishlist for trade and jobs


COUNCILS and businesses have issued nearly a dozen Kent MPs with a shopping list to get trade, jobs and transport moving in the county.


Representatives from more than 75 businesses, councils and education providers came together to put the case for in- vestment in Kent’s infra- structure at a summit at MaidstoneTV Studios last month. At- tending for Maidstone Council was leader Fran


Wilson (pictured) and regeneration and economic development man- ager John Foster. The summit, organised by South


East Local Enterprise Partnership, called on MPs to lobby government on the commercial importance of keeping traffic moving through the county. Therewere also calls for cash to be spent on a link road between the M2 and the Canterbury Road at


26 Maidstone March 2017


Brenley Corner; a Lower Thames Crossing; dualling theA2 from Lyd- den to Dover and a solution to the lorry parking problem. Other suggestions included ex- tending the length of high speed trains to avoid overcrowding, and providing a dedicated shuttle serv- ice between Ebbsfleet and London. All agreed that extending the Crossrail service to Ebbsfleet or Gravesend, would help regenerate North Kent. After the summit, its chairman,


Dover MP Charlie Elphicke, said: “Everyone knows Brexit will present challenges – but there will also be real opportunities to build the sort of Britain we want. It’s clear we need investment in Kent’s roads and rail- ways. The A2 must be dualled and we need to get on with building the Lower Thames Crossing. We must act now to prevent gridlock and de- lays. Meanwhile,we have to increase capacity on our trains to meet de- mand and it’s vital we support Kent’s colleges and universities in providing the lifelong learning adults in Kent need to adapt to a dy- namic digital economy.”


50 drivers in lorry phone trap


NEARLY £5,000 in fines has been handed out by Kent Police to drivers on the M20 in a covert operation to stop motorists using their mobile phones. As well as chatting while at the wheel, drivers were caught texting, looking at paperwork, and in one case a woman had a cigarette in one hand and her mobile phone in the other while she was on the slip road leaving the motorway. Officers used an unmarked lorry from Highways England to catch 50 culprits in five days, in an operation which ran until January 29. A Kent Police spokesman said one of the most shocking incidents witnessed was a lorry driver who travelled 500 yards on the slip road from the M20 without glancing up, even once, from his phone screen. Four other motorists were stopped for speeding, including one who


was travelling at 110mph, and a lorry driver who was reversing his vehicle along the hard shoulder. Kent Police say using an unmarked lorry cab allows officers to get a


clear view down into other vehicles without pre-warning offenders of the police trap.


1,100 signatured as we went tom press, will be handed to the Min- istry of Defence by Easter. The proposed closure of Invicta


Park Barrackswas announced by the Government in November 2017 as one of 91 proposed closures to mili- tary bases across the UK. Chris Kemsley, of Maidstone,


wrote on the petition site: “The bar- racks and the people who work there are an integral part of the town. Their value cannot be judged in pure economic terms.” John Northern added: “Do you re-


allywant to be responsible for send- ing away these soldiers, who would


lay down their lives for us without question? “Do you wish to be the one re- sponsible for removing these brave families and replacing 200 years of history with housing? “The barracks can be redeveloped


and housing modernised – there is no reason to remove the garrison other than for financial and political gain. The troops must stay!” The survey can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/2kjPxSI. The petition is at www.ipetitions.com/ petition/save-maidstone-barracks and at Mrs Grant’s Maidstone constituency office


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