Kent Online News. News You Can Trust. This is the Kent Online Podcast. Kate Faulkner. Hello, hope you're okay. Thank you for downloading today's podcast on Wednesday, July 3. Coming up today, we'll hear from a resident of sitting board about just how bad the traffic can be after a busload of school children were stuck for hours. And with the general election tomorrow, we'll hear from a local business owner about what he's hoping for from the next government. But first, taking a look at our most read story on the website today for restaurants in Kent that are all owned by the same company are going to close. Our business editor, Chris Britcher, joins me now. Chris, clearly everyone's very interested in this story. Firstly, can you tell us which restaurants they are and when they're closing? Hi there. Yes, absolutely. So the restaurants which we know are closing this week are the Brewers Fair E-Trees in Margate, West Malling and Bexley Heath, and the Long Week Beef Eater in WIT Stable. Listeners are familiar with any of these sites, we'll be aware they're all back onto Premier in Hotels. And that's the key element of this move, because many of these sites will see more hotel rooms created in the former restaurant buildings. The restaurant seem likely to be scaled down and crucially will only be accessible to those staying at the hotel. So if you opt for one of their premiering breakfast, you'll still be able to get in, but you'll be eating in a non-branded restaurant. In other words, they'll just become part of the premiering complex at each site. When we do know that it's closing down and is currently on the market is the beef eater and rain them. Now these are all owned by WIT Bread, what's behind the decision and what happened to staff? That's right, WIT Bread runs around 850 hotels in the UK and of course owns the premiering brand. Back in April it announced a reorganisation of its portfolio as part of a three-year cost-cutting drive. The company actually announced a pre-tax profit of £452 million earlier this year, which is up 21%, which may come as some surprise given what they're doing now. But its branded restaurants, which will be familiar to premiering customers, lagged some way behind. In fact, it says the 112 restaurants it plans to turn into more hotel rooms made a loss of 19 million in that year, while the 126 restaurants now being sold made a loss of 9 million. Clearly it sees the potential of converting space not performing commercially into more accommodation, while still retaining facilities for premiering customers to eat. There is a price to pay for staff, however, and that's going to be the axe falling on some 1500 jobs nationwide. Those continuing to operate like a numbering can, will probably survive the worst of the cuts, but expect some roles to be made redundant. And has the company said anything about this week's closures? And has the company said anything about this week's closures? It has thanked the staff and communities it served and said the decisions it has taken were tough to make, but insisted it was a necessary move for the company. Finally, Chris, what about other venues they own in the county? A big question mark currently hangs over the table table restaurant in Broomfield in Hermbay, and the Woodlands beefy to engraves end. Both are currently not taking forward bookings, but no official announcement has been made by Whitbread as to what the plans for the sites are. Thanks, Chris. Now, another of our most read stories today, there have been reports of schoolchildren being forced to wait on buses for hours after road closures and accidents brought traffic in Sittingborne to a standstill. Parents, they students, returning to lace down from Westlands, arrived home just before 8pm on Monday, despite being picked up at half past four. A crash on the 8249 coincided with network rail closing the Kingsbury Bridge. I've been speaking to my Kent family editor, Lauren Abbott, who lives in Sittingborne. She says they've had to be very patient with all of the roadworks up until now, but it's getting beyond a joke. Since Monday afternoon, I think we all set off for hire more to pick the kids up from school at sort of four half four on Monday and just hit walls of traffic in every direction. And then messages on the local residence group starts to come in saying, "What's with the traffic? Why is it so bad?" And it sounds like the closure of the Kingsbury Bridge seems to be the root cause. And I was reading a report as well last week that when you say traffic is bad, it's not just that traffic is slow. It has come to a standstill, like pretty much parked on the local roads. Yeah. I mean, I think people have already maybe mowed about traffic in Sittingborne before, because obviously we've been subject to the 249 Flyover Project for a long time, which has made traffic really quite difficult in the area. But we are at a point now where you can drive out a sort of four four thirty, and it would be no exaggeration to say you might move one road in an hour. It just isn't, nothing's moving, none of the main roads are moving, but also every tiny little cut through that people would ordinarily maybe revert to. To try and get to where they need to be, they are snarled with cars in every direction. It genuinely has been really difficult. We're also hearing stories of kids getting caught up in this school, kids getting caught to and from school. But there was that story last week of, I think, children were picked up at four thirty in the afternoon and they didn't get home until nearly eight o'clock at night. I mean, this is a terrible time for it to be having our own exam time now. We've got problems as well. How's it affecting the schools? I think it's been really difficult. We've heard stories of some of the children, this side of town being picked up on their school bus at sort of ten to four, and they're coming back in the door at half plus seven. I mean, keeping children on a bus that long, that must be a nightmare for all concerned. We heard that there was a school trip that they just scraped back in time, because obviously most of the children getting on the school buses are secondary pupils. But if you've got kids out on a school trip because it's the end of turn, they're likely to be seven, eight, nine, ten years old. And if they're coming back at that point, it's a real issue. And yes, I think a couple of the secondary schools have had their proms Monday and Tuesday evening, and there's been huge amounts of panic amongst parents trying to get them to venues that might be outside of sitting board, maybe towards Medway, and the kids have all been late. They've not been coming to proms at starting at sort of half six, seven o'clock until eight, half eight. And these are parents that spent money on dresses, cars, you know, real big deal. And their theory evenings are getting cut in half because they're just sat in the traffic. The other area where I think it's expected to have an impact is voting tomorrow. Obviously, there's going to be a huge number of people out on the roads if they're not able to walk to their local polling station. Do you think this is going to put people off going out to vote? Yeah, I mean, the understanding is that from what we've read from local councillors and people involved in system, that they've basically said there's nothing that they can do about this. They can't open the sliproads that are closed because that would process a risk to road users because those bits of road aren't finished. And the Kingsford Bridge is going to be shut until the works are done. So my understanding is we're stuck with this until the weekend, potentially, and then it will start again when they do it again. But I think people are changing their plans already. We've heard, you know, kids who've got swimming lessons and clubs after school. They're not parents aren't bothering with taking them out. People are adjusting their working hours to not have to go out. And yes, I would think if you can't walk to a polling station and your polling station is a drive away, mine's on the cusp, but I probably could walk there with a bit of effort. I think you're not going to bother. There's no way, I think, that people, unless they're massively enthusiastic about the election, are going to want to sit in their car for 40, 45 minutes to go up a couple of roads, just to class their vote. I think it's a shame, but I think that it is a real concern. Local bosses say they are aware of the traffic impacts and are doing their best to minimise disruption, particularly for pupils who need to get to and from exams. Kent Online News. A 19-year-old woman's been charged with murder following a stubbing near Maidstone. Police were called to Southfield's Way in Harriet Show in the early hours of yesterday, after a 25-year-old man was reportedly attacked outside a house. He later died in hospital, Paige Poulton, from South E Road in Harringays during court later. Police say another man who was also arrested has now been released without charge. Two men have gone on trial accused of stabbing a waiter on his way home from work in Witzdable. Madasha Husain was attacked in an alleyway near the town's railway station in December last year. The 32 and 25-year-olds from Margate and Ramsgate deny wounding charges, and the case continues. A man's appeared in court accused of a sex attack on a school girl in Folkestone. The suspect allegedly made inappropriate comments to a child before touching them in the Ford Road area last week. A 20-year-old from the town is due back before a magistrate in August. Six people have been arrested following a major investigation into modern-day slavery offences in Kent, Surrey, Manchester and London. Suspected brothels in Gravesend and Maidstone were raided and a 45-year-old man was detained. Police also seized drugs, more than 90 mobile phones and documentation. Head to Kent Online as a footage of a man who stolen £120 worth of fuel from a petrol station near Hive. He was caught on CCTV, filling up at Palmarsh Golf Service Station last month and driving off without paying. The owner says it happens regularly and is really damaging for their business. Police have seized six air rifles and a number of cannabis plants from a home in Ashford. Officers were called to Tadworth Road in Kennington following reports of a disturbance last Wednesday. A 34-year-old man was arrested. He's been released on bail while inquiries continue. A 27-year-old suspect is due in court after property was stolen from a number of cars and vans in West Kent. He was arrested after police reviewed CCTV following the thefts in Snotland, Laeborne, Waldam, Hawling and Ailesford. Bank cards, cash, tobacco and a watch were allegedly taken. Kent Online News It's thought a teenager missing from Tumbridge Wells may have travelled to Tumbridge or Paddick Wood. 15-year-old Courtney Clark was last seen in high brooms yesterday lunchtime. Police are concerned for her welfare. We've shared her picture on socials. There's a warning about jumping into the sea from peers in Kent after a teenager was left brain damaged. 15-year-old Jack Dolan was flown to hospital after leaping from stone pier in Margate last month and a scans revealed no brain activity. Guy Addington is from the R&LI, which has lifeguards on beaches across the county. It's important that people take the time to understand just some of the risks and some of the hazards associated with the coastal environment. It's worth going online and checking the times of the tide. Now, that information is readily available online, but you need to know a little bit about what you're looking at. Does your planned walk have any areas of tidal cut off hazard, for example? Or are you planning a trip to the beach and taking an inflatable toy? If you put an inflatable toy in the water in an offshore wind, that's a wind moving from the land out to sea. It's going to get carried away really, really quickly, far faster than anyone can swim. So our advice is check the weather, check the tides, but most importantly, find yourself a life-guarded beach around the coast of the UK and Ireland. The R&LI lifeguards patrol some 250 or so beaches. So there should be a life-guarded beach somewhere near to you. So find yourself a life-guarded beach and when they take their advice and swim between the red and yellow flags. And that's the area that they will focus the most of their attention on. It's the area that they've deemed most suitable for bathing. So swim between the red and yellow flags at a life-guarded beach for a safe trip to the seaside. I know we saw the really sad story that came out last week of the 15-year-old boy who was injured. He was jumping off the pier in Margate. He was with a group of friends at the time. Would you have any specific message for teenagers or young people who were taking the opportunity to go out, maybe for the first time without their parents heading to the coast? What message would you give to young people? Of course, I think some of the detail of that incident is still to be discovered. So I can't comment too much on the specifics of that. Our advice to anybody heading out to the coast is to just take that time to understand as much as they can about some of the risks associated with the coastal environment. What sort of impact is the height and the depth of water going to have on your plans. Our advice is to go to a life-guarded beach and bathe between the red and yellow flags. That's the area deemed most suitable for bathing by the highly trained lifeguards that operate in that area. So go to a life-guarded beach, swim between the flags and don't be tempted to go into a body of water that hasn't been specifically designated as suitable and safe for bathing. So go to a life-guarded beach, swim between the flags for a safe day out. Don't be tempted to bathe in areas that haven't been specifically designated as suitable. And if somebody does get into trouble, what should they do, how do they contact help? It's a great question. If you get into difficulty yourself or you see somebody in difficulty at the coast, don't hesitate to call 999 and ask for the coastguard. That's 999 and ask for the coastguard. And if you find yourself in difficulty in the water, particularly unexpectedly, so slip a trip or fall or a jump or you've fallen off a craft or something, remember our float-to-live message. And that message is, if you find yourself entering cold water, sort of fight that natural instinct to thrash around and swim hard as panic and the cold water shock response setting. And instead try to relax, try to push the head back into the water, ears submerged, and that promotes a face-up chest-up position to float in the water. The cold shock response and panic response will pass in a very short space of time, and that's buying you time just to plan your next move, which might be to shout for help or it might be to swim for safety. So if you find yourself in difficulty, remember float-to-live, on the back, head and ears submerged, face-up, airway protected position, and wait for that cold shock response to pass. More than 4,000 pounds has been raised for Jack's family, who have decided to move him to end of life care. A hive nurse who sold methamphetamine to friends has avoided being sent to prison. David Poppell said he was going through a dark time in his life when police found more than 3,000 pounds of the drug in his camper van. The 63-year-old who lives in Belmarsh Crescent was given a two-year suspended sentence. It was also carried out 140 hours of unpaid work and attend rehab. A drilling man has been given a three-year football banning order after throwing a vape onto the pitch during a Millwall match. It happened as they played Birmingham in March. The 23-year-old was charged by police and pleaded guilty in court. Kent Online News Police are investigating as parking signs have been repeatedly damaged at a nature reserve near Favisham. An ankle grinder was used to cut down signs displaying details of charges at all marshes three times. In as many weeks, Ken Wildlapped Trust say it's caused thousands of pounds worth of damage and one person was scammed after trying to pay through a fraudulent website. Experts have warned a new McDonald's in Dover could spill over onto a former graveyard where there are still burials. There are proposals for a new restaurant next to the ruins of St James's Church. It's understood the site was officially closed in the 1800s, but there are still some graves beneath the ground. The organization, Historic Buildings and Places, say the development would be inappropriate. McDonald's bosses say it will bring jobs and footfall to the area. The owner of a business in deal, which has been granted permission to sell alcohol until 11pm, has shot down suggestions. It will see people loitering outside. Darren Jenkins, from the Fishmongers in street food bar, Jenkins and Sons, has moved into a new premises on the high street, but says he's not committed to becoming a drinking establishment. He says they just want to serve a few oysters and glasses of wine during the summer months. Kent Online News The owner of an animal sanctuaries told Kent Online she can't believe someone cut the microchip out of a dog before dumping them. The lurcha was taken to a vet in Ashford where it needed surgery to repair the wound. He's now been cared for at Lord Whiskey Animal Sanctuary in Stelling Minus. It's run by Margaret Todd. It's poor lurcha and like many stray dogs swiss them taken into a vet's by the member of a public looking at the dog. The vet discovered that it had a hole in his back where obviously a microchip had been placed and somebody had very cruelly tried to take the chip out. That sounds like an absolutely awful thing to happen. Have you ever seen anything like that before? No, and I hope that we never see anything like that again. I can only think that whoever had the dog removed the chip because they didn't want to be recognised as the owner or the dog had been stolen and somebody took the chip out because they wanted to adopt the dog and then the dog got lost. And I remember the public took it into the vet. I mean, that must have been awful for the dog to go through. For anyone who's not aware as to where these microchips go, can you just explain where they are on a dog and how far under the skin they are? They're not that deep, although the wound on this dog was fairly deep, but they normally are placed between the shoulders. Microchips are very useful and also if someone loses the dog, the dog can be traced back to the owner. But unfortunately, so many dogs that are microchips, when they're passed onto a new owner, the chip isn't registered properly. And therefore, it's very difficult to find out who they belong to. Yeah, and if one's been removed like that, I mean, that would have been incredibly painful for the animal, wouldn't it? It must have been in some distress, a bit of thought. They're thinking about it. You know, you imagine having a knife or something put in your back, you know. And they obviously, when they put it in, they must have moved it around a bit to find the microchips to get it out. I think that's absolutely awful. And how was the nurture when he came into your care? Strange enough, he was very friendly, very pleased to see us and very relaxed. He's just a lovely dog, very, very gentle dog and just wants a really loving home. And have you seen an increase in dogs being abandoned at the moment, Margaret? We've heard a lot about the cost of living and how it's affected animal sanctuaries with a lot more people abandoning pets. Has that affected you? It certainly has, I think, it's all the way across the board that there's just more neglect. I think a lot of them, the reasons for it is that so many people have been made homeless now and also landlords won't allow pets. And sadly, people have to get them off if they have to move into a rented property, which is a great shame. A young Kent athlete has been told she'll need reconstructive surgery after a devastating knee injury. 13-year-old Elsie Power from Raynam, who's on the England basketball pathway, ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in May. Her family are now trying to raise money for private surgery. It could take around a year to recover. We're just a day away from the general election. Kent online's been hearing from a local business owner about what he'd like from the new government. All of the major parties have made pledges to company owners in their manifestos. With many focusing on economic growth, the Conservatives announced a 10-point plan to help small businesses, while Labor is promising to reform the business rate system. Jason Rainbird is managing director of Flowbird, a CRM agency based in Ashford. He says, "Whatever happens, there needs to be substantial change." I did quite a lot of reading around, and I actually took a little bit of a test about what my political views were, and it was quite interesting to see what the results were. So I was looking at not only the business aspect, but obviously the social aspect as well of the thing. So it's not just, obviously, business is part of life, but life is everything else. So I thought I was going down one track at the beginning of the thing, and I came out, and it looks like I'm going down a slightly different track now, which is a bit of a shock to me. I was like, "Oh, okay, maybe my views have changed over the last couple of years." My gut feel is I think we need something radical. I think we need radical changes. I think we've been down one route, we've been down another route, and we keep bouncing between two things. I think we need an overhaul of the whole process and our overhaul of the whole system, because we keep trying the same thing and expecting a different result, and we keep getting the same result. So I think that wasn't the phrase, that's the sign of insanity. So a radical change is what is required, definitely. If you had a wish list coming out of the election, if you could wave a magic wand and have a wish list of things that would be implemented, what would be on it? I think the honest thing, top of my list is proportional representation. I think we're in a situation where a government can move into power, not have a majority, and yet still rule, and I think that's wrong. I think there are the smaller parties out there that need to say, need a position in thing, and I think that's an important part. I take, for example, the Green Party. My honest view is they're never going to get in power, and I definitely think they need to be represented in government, and I think that's an important thing. And I think there are other parties out there that have the same issues. And so I think we need to look at being fairly represented. I think that's it. And my magic wand would be, we'd go back into, we wouldn't, breaks it would be a thing of the past. So I think that was a mistake that we did that. I think we should, you know, I think, I don't know how that would work, but ideally, and I don't think in terms of it could work, but ideally I would like to move back into the European environment. I think we've moved away from what was our biggest partner, thinking that we can control it ourselves, and I think that's a mistake. So, and I think, I think since breaks has happened, I think we've proven categorically that that is a problem now. So, and I think it's going to get worse if I'm honest with you. So that would definitely be a magic wand for me. Do you think that's an issue that's being addressed enough? In the general election, I read some criticism. I think it was last week that Brexit's sort of the elephant in the room that nobody's really daring to go to near it. Do you think that it needs to be more of a topic of conversation? I do. I absolutely, I think the Brexit needs to be reviewed. You know, I think that, you know, we threw our toys out the pram because we wanted to, and I think now we've got to go back and say, let's eat a little bit of humble pie and say, okay, I think it was a mistake. What do we want to do? I think the big problem is, is that a lot of the other European partners, we're going to punish the UK for wanting to come back. I honestly don't know. I mean, at the end of the day, I think it benefits everybody. So I think if we turned up and said, look, hands up, you know, we took a referendum, we went for the referendum. But as in hindsight, it didn't work. You know, can we come back sort of thing? We would just come to the terms and conditions. It's much easier for us to work to come back in than it was to work. To leave. I don't know how practical it is in reality. I don't know all the finer details. But I think, yeah, it is something that needs to be addressed. I think we have shot ourselves in the foot over that problem. And a Toe star at X East Enders Actor will be taking part in a charity football match in Kent today. Daniels born and Jake Wood are just two of the names, lining up at Tunbridge Angels Football Club to raise money for the Motor Neuron Disease Association. I'll join celebs from Love Island and Maths. Kickoff is at 7.30. Kent's online sport. Cricket now and Kent have a chance of salvaging and drawing on the final day of their county championship match against Hampshire. They were forced to follow on at Southampton yesterday in a due to resume on 1-32-2 trailing by 30 runs. It comes as Kent's Jaden Denley has been named in England's under 19 squad for a two-game test series against Sri Lanka. The 18-year-old who's the nephew of Kent teammate Joe Denley will play alongside the sons of Andrew Flintoff and Michael Vaughn, the first game starts on Monday. And a Kent woman's been chosen to represent Team GB in the Judo at this summer's Olympics in Paris. Katie Jemima Yates-Brown from Pembury will compete in the under 70 kilos category. She's previously won two bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games. Sticking with the Olympics and Kent Paralympian Will Bailey has helped unveil a new 50p coin celebrating Team GB and Paralympics GB at least. The table tennis player and former strictly contestant from Tunbridge Wells was part of a ceremony at the Royal Mint. That's all from us today. Thanks ever so much for listening. Don't forget you can follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and threads. You can also get the details on the top stories, direct to your email each morning via the briefing. To sign up, just head to kentonline.co.uk News you can trust. This is the Kent Online Podcast. cost. [BLANK_AUDIO]
