News Driver hurt in


village crash A DRIVER was airlifted to hospi- tal after a multi-vehicle crash in Mereworth. Police were called to the colli- sion between a van and two cars in Seven Mile Lane at about 2pm on Wednesday, September 2. Road closures were put in place and one driver was taken to Tun- bridge Wells Hospital for treat- ment.


A Kent Police spokesman said: “Officers and ambulance crews attended, and the driver of one of the vehicles has been taken to hospital with injuries. A South East Coast Ambulance Service spokesman said: “I can confirm we were called to reports of an RTC on Seven Mile Lane. “Ambulance crews attended


and were joined at the scene by the air ambulance service. One patient has been taken to Tun- bridge Wells Hospital for further treatment.”


Grass blaze


FIRE crews were called to a grass fire in Aylesford.


The accidental blaze happened on Mount Pleasant at about noon on Sunday, September 13. Two fire engines were sent to


the scene, where a large amount of grass and undergrowth had caught alight. Crews used a hose reel jet to ex- tinguish the blaze. No casualties were reported, and the cause is believed to be ac- cidental, due to discarded smok- ing materials. A KFRS spokesman said: “Fol- lowing the incident, firefighters are reminding the public to take precautions to reduce the risk of a field fire. Remember to safely dis- pose of all smoking materials, and to take any rubbish home.”


downsmail.co.uk


Mum faced 400-mile trip for Covid-19 test


A MOTHER of two was left “bewildered” after trying to book a Coron- avirus test, only to be offered one more than 200 miles away.


Sally Oakley, of Saddlers Close, logged onto the government’s testing website after her son, George (11) started displaying symptoms of Covid-19. After several attempts to book online, get a home test posted or speak to someone on the 119 hot- line, she was shocked to discover the closest appointment was in Telford, Shropshire, a four-hour drive away from the family home in Grove Green.


The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) says it is see- ing a “significant demand for tests” and is targeting areas that need it most.


Mrs Oakley said: “It’s been a nightmare. My son started to feel poorly a few days after starting his first year at Valley Park School. We were told to keep him off and to book a test, and the first two places that popped up were Telford and Ironbridge.


hours to get somewhere as close as possible. When I eventually booked a test at Dover, I was told the barcode I was sent was not valid as it was under my name and not my son’s. “After that, I was told that I needed to go home and rebook, but that there was no guarantee George would be able to get a test this close again or a test at all.” The DHSC says its capacity is


“I then called the Coronavirus hotline who told me new loca- tions are released on the website at around 7pm at night. I tried for


the “highest it has ever been” and its laboratories are processing more than a million tests a week. A spokesman added: “We are targeting testing capacity at the areas that need it most, including those where there is an outbreak, as well as prioritising at-risk groups and we recently an- nounced new laboratory facilities and new technology to process re- sults even faster.” George eventually tested nega- tive for Covid-19.


Theatre facing an uncertain future


THE future of the Hazlitt Theatre could be in the balance and is likely to be considered by Maid- stone Borough Council.


The council pays an annual subsidy of £250,000 to current the- atre operators, Parkwood Leisure. An officer report says: “While this is significantly less than the previous cost borne by the council from in-house service, it remains a sizeable contribution.


tribution to town centre economy and alternative options for the theatre are better understood.” Council committees are now being recommended to consider the strategic approach.


The theatre has been closed “Before making judgements on


the council’s future commitment to the Hazlitt it is key that the con-


since March, due to Covid-19, and this year’s pantomime has been cancelled. It has slowly started to re-open and hopes to have a Christmas musical show.


Call for action over online child abuse


DATA obtained by a children’s charity shows a 50% increase in on- line child sex crimes in Kent. The number of Childline coun- selling sessions about grooming has also increased during lock- down, according to the National Society for the Prevention of Cru- elty to Children (NSPCC). As Parliament returns, the or- ganisation is calling on the govern- ment to make “online harms” legislation a priority this autumn. The proposed bill, which would place a legal duty of care on tech


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firms to protect children, enforced by an independent regulator, needs to be published before the end of the year. The NSPCC has been campaign-


ing for a duty of care on tech firms since 2018. The Government pub- lished the Online Harms White Paper in April 2019, but is still to produce the consultation response. Andy Burrows, NSPCC head of


child safety online policy, said: “These figures suggest that online abuse was already rising before lockdown, and the risks to children


appear to have spiked since. “It is now almost 17 months since the Government’s original proposals for social media regula- tion were published and children continue to face preventable harm online.


“The Prime Minister needs to prioritise introducing a compre- hensive online harms bill this au- tumn and pass legislation by the end of 2021 that sees tech firms held criminally and financially ac- countable if they continue to put children at risk.”


New data reveals that: l 10,391 crimes were recorded by all forces across the UK for 2019/20. The total is for sexual of- fences that involve an online ele- ment, including grooming, sexual assault and rape; l Offences increased by 16% from the previous year; l In the five years since it became mandatory to record crimes in- volving the internet, the total number of recorded offences has risen by over 37,000.


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