News Dogs sniff out
illicit trading A STASH of more than £18,000 worth of illicit cigarettes has been seized from a convenience store in Maidstone. Trading Standards officers used
sniffer dogs to find cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco hidden be- hind a false wall, concealed under the shop counter and in the chiller cabinet. The raid, carried out at the store
inUpper Stone Street onMarch 29, was part of a larger operation, in- cluding premises in Sittingbourne and Tunbridge Wells, and sup- ported by Kent Police. A total of 22,220 illicit cigarettes
were seized fromthe store inMaid- stone, alongwith 405 pouches of il- licit hand-rolling tobacco. Illicit tobacco includes items that
have been smuggled,without duty paid; counterfeit tobacco, made to appear like legitimate goods; and “illicit whites”, which are manu- factured legitimately in one coun- try, but smuggled and sold in anotherwithout duties being paid. Clive Phillips, of KCC Trading
Standards, said: “This is a fantastic result for Maidstone as the sale of illicit tobacco undermines local le- gitimate businesses.”
downsmail.co.uk
Army’s absence is ‘no reason’ to halt parade
ONE of the town’s formermayors, Mike Fitzgerald, has spoken of his “dismay” at the cancellation of this year’s civic parade. The formal installation of the
new holder of the mayoral chain and chairman of the borough coun- cil,CllrDavidNaghi, has been can- celled. Maidstone Borough Council
claims the cancellation has been due to the army, which forms a large part of the event, being de- ployed overseas on the date inMay. The parade – which some claim
dates back to 1548 – draws hun- dreds of people each year. In a letter to Downs Mail, Mr
Fitzgerald wrote: “I wish to ex- pressmy dismay at howa decision to cancel the civic parade appears to have happenedwithout council- lors being aware, we elect our members to run the council. “The civic parade has been heav-
ily promoted over the last few years and moved to a Saturday to attract even greater numbers, so
The outgoing mayor of
Maidstone, Malcolm Greer,
pictured at a town hall function
why disappoint the crowds of peo- ple who turn out because the 36th regiment is unavailable? This has been the case in the past, but it is not a reason to cancel. “Maidstone has squandered a
golden opportunity to bring the community together at a time of austerity, tough retail trading con- ditions and charities struggling to find core funding – an opportunity to involve and value all our diverse cultures, youth groups, schools and local organisations together expressing solidarity and support
to celebratewhatMaidstone has to offer.” This year’s outgoing mayor is
Malcolm Greer, to whom Cllr Naghi has been deputy. Tradition in Maidstone dictates that the deputy steps up to fill the role. The coming year’s deputywill be
the respected Conservative, Cllr Marion Ring. When Downs Mail broke the
story, Cllr Ringwonderedwhy the absence of the army should make any difference to the staging of the civic parade.
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