Catch up on all the latest news across the county with Abigail Hook.
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00:00Hello, good evening and welcome to Kent Tonight, live on KMTV.
00:26I'm Abbey Hook, here are your top stories on Monday the 16th of June.
00:31We've lost everything. Homes in Dover devastated after severe flooding.
00:37It just happened so fast, like I say, within five minutes we were sat on the sofa and then I was underwater there.
00:47Forever remembered, Ramsgate Pride holds minutes' silence for two of their own killed in Air India plane crash.
00:54They would want this vibe, wouldn't they? This is exactly what they would have wanted, is for us to enjoy ourselves like this.
01:00And your fudge fix. We speak to a Canterbury kitchen to find out how they celebrate National Fudge Day.
01:08A lot of the time when I'm out and about, just on my days off, I'll get the school kids going,
01:12Oh my God, it's a fudge lady! Look, it's a fudge lady!
01:45Counting up the cost.
01:47While there are calls for the local authorities to have better emergency planning,
01:52the council leader says he's reaching out to the government for support.
01:56I've been to meet some of the residents on Castle Street in one of the worst hit areas.
02:01We kind of took the brunt of it.
02:04Water came in here. You can see here, it came from everywhere.
02:13And a business reduced to floorboards.
02:17Two properties all but destroyed by severe flooding.
02:21A yellow weather warning was issued days in advance and upgraded to amber just before the rain began.
02:26And 30,000 lightning strikes hit the UK on Friday the 13th of June.
02:33And for Castle Street in Dover, their luck really had run out.
02:38Rob Hancocks and his wife were watching TV when the speed of the flood snapped their front door in half.
02:45This is where they were sat when the water started rushing in.
02:50And if you actually look around the room, you can see the level which the water rose to,
02:55while they were actually still inside the flat, trapped.
02:59Rob's wife on the phone to emergency services, pleading for help.
03:08I'm trying, please hurry up.
03:13Oh my God, we've lost absolutely everything.
03:18He finally got to the back door to open and release the pressure
03:22and just watched as his life emptied into the garden.
03:29What do you think is salvageable?
03:31Nothing. Nothing.
03:33Not really anything.
03:34Like, all the wood's done once the water gets into it, it'll blow it all.
03:39The sofas.
03:41So, maybe, like, the TV stands might be salvageable.
03:45Some plastic tubs, tables and my fishing rods and things like that.
03:49But everything else is destroyed.
03:51And it's a similar story just a few houses down.
03:55Thomas Poblete just recently opened a homeware shop here.
03:59Has this ever happened to you before, flooding this badly here?
04:02No.
04:03No.
04:03My neighbour's been here for more than 10 years.
04:05It's never happened.
04:06You came down at 6 in the morning and saw everything.
04:09Yeah.
04:10That must have been a shock.
04:11It was, it was.
04:12So then it started, like, lifting everything up so it wouldn't get ruined.
04:16But all of these, like, paintings are soaking wet.
04:22Any idea at this point how much this might cost you?
04:25No.
04:26No, but it's...
04:27Dread to think?
04:27Huh?
04:28Dread to think?
04:29Yeah, I don't want to.
04:30I don't want to think about it.
04:32Now the community is coming together to help businesses and families rebuild and make sure
04:38it doesn't happen again.
04:39To be fair to the local authorities, we haven't really had this event happen before, this severity.
04:44But I would certainly like to see them learn a few lessons and boost their emergency planning.
04:50Because Dover is one of the most strategically important port towns in the country.
04:56And imagine if this was during a bank holiday weekend or the Great Getaway or something like that.
05:00You know, the place would have been gridlocked.
05:02And then there could have been a serious loss of life or a threat to life.
05:06The council have said they'd welcome better emergency planning
05:09and are reaching out to the government for support for any businesses affected.
05:14But for now, Castle Street hopes that help will be the only thing on their doorstep.
05:20Abbey Hook for KMTV in Dover.
05:25And earlier, I was joined by Dover District Council's Labour leader, Kevin Mills.
05:31Thank you for joining me today, Kevin.
05:33Now, have you been down to Castle Street to speak to many of the residents
05:36who've been affected by this weekend's flooding?
05:41Particularly Castle Street, I was in the town on Saturday
05:44sort of late morning, I was up Folkestone Road
05:48and some of the other areas to look at it.
05:51And then again, on Sunday, I was down there and, you know,
05:53you still see the people pumping out there
05:56and the impacts that have on individuals and businesses in Dover.
06:01And what are you and the council doing to support those people who have been impacted?
06:04I mean, I got the first call I had was about midnight on Friday night
06:09from the chief execs and we had a critical incident.
06:12They were setting up a respite home, a village hall, to house the families.
06:20At that stage, I don't think we were particularly aware of the sheer number or the numbers.
06:24It panned out as 23 properties.
06:26The properties, three, were vacant anyway of these 21 individuals
06:29that we put into temporary accommodation at that stage.
06:33But of course, that was there and then.
06:36And it's over the next few days that you're actually starting to see the full impact
06:40on a lot of other families.
06:42Because the vast majority of the properties were not council properties.
06:46They were either privately owned or had private landlords.
06:49People are calling on the council to have better emergency planning and provisions in place.
06:56What would you say to that?
06:59I think to some extent that we will end up doing a wash up on this.
07:03But we ended up with the emergency planning when we had the fire at Conqueror House.
07:08That seemed to go as well as it could possibly go.
07:11I've yet to hear that the emergency planning was an issue.
07:15But if people have got specific examples of where they think the emergency plan didn't work,
07:19I'm more than happy to hear from them.
07:21And then I can raise those concerns to make sure that doesn't happen again.
07:26So the emergency planning team kicked in.
07:29Let's say I was taking phone calls from 12 o'clock onwards that night
07:33on what was being set up.
07:36And we stood the centre down by about 8 o'clock the following morning.
07:40You know, I've not been made aware of any specific issues regarding the emergency planning.
07:46You know, the sad reality is that, you know,
07:49somebody just sort of decided to pick up the English Channel and dump it,
07:52not just on Dover, but you would have seen it predominantly in that area.
07:57But, you know, we have a planning team.
07:59You try to mitigate against everything that's, you know, potentially an issue.
08:04But say if people have got, you know, concerns,
08:06I'm more than happy to listen to them, meet with them, hear what their concerns are
08:11and make sure that we feed that in to ensure we're never in,
08:14well, hopefully we'll never be in this situation again.
08:16But, you know, any time will tell, sadly.
08:20And more on that story a bit later in the show now.
08:23The government has announced new funding for the project
08:25to connect Kent to Essex via a new road network.
08:28It's granted nearly £600 million,
08:31around 5% of the total cost needed to complete the Lower Thames crossing.
08:35Ministers say they're now seeking private investment
08:38to deliver what they call a national priority.
08:41Well, our local democracy reporter, Olly Leder, joins me in the studio now.
08:46What has the government said about this funding?
08:49Abi, I'm sure you're, like me, a bit sick of talking about the Lower Thames crossing.
08:55It's been on the mind of Kent residents for the best part of two decades now,
09:00and it's cost a lot of money in the process.
09:02But, finally, the government gave approval to it earlier this year.
09:06Spades will soon be hitting the ground,
09:08and as part of that, the government have granted an additional £590 million.
09:14It sounds like a lot of money.
09:16That's what it is, but it's not all the money that's going to be needed
09:20for this vital link between Essex and Gravesend in Kent.
09:26It's going to be estimated to cost around £10 billion,
09:31and lots of that's going to have to come from private investments.
09:35Though many people in Kent do welcome the news,
09:39I'm sure we've all heard about the major congestion issues we see in Dartford.
09:44There's hopes that this could unlock the UK economy,
09:48particularly here in Kent with trade up north,
09:51including from one UK logistics company.
09:55Well, the money that's been pledged today
09:57is just a small part of the overall costs of the Lower Thames crossing,
10:00and what we hope is that it will then start to attract some private finance,
10:04which will pay for the bulk of the construction costs.
10:07There will inevitably be some disruption whilst that is ongoing,
10:11and we will work at Logistics UK with national highways
10:14to keep that disruption to a minimum.
10:16But the long-term benefit of the Lower Thames crossing will be really significant,
10:22not just for those of us who live and work here in the South East,
10:25but it's a vital trading route for goods travelling to and from the continent
10:30to the Midlands and beyond.
10:34You mentioned spades in the ground, Oli.
10:36What are the next steps?
10:38That is a fantastic question, Abby,
10:40to which I really don't have much of an answer.
10:43The government themselves doesn't even know exactly when the project will be finished,
10:48when it's going to start.
10:50There's hopes it could start next year,
10:52maybe even later this year in some quarters,
10:55but that's a lot of technical questions we don't have the answer to.
10:59But it is a complicated issue because not everyone is happy about it.
11:04Look at the screen right now.
11:05So you can see that's where the existing Dartford crossing is,
11:08all the way up the river,
11:09and they're able to build this new tunnel here in Gravesend.
11:11You can see lots of rural areas, green land, trees.
11:16That's where the concerns are from environmental quarters.
11:19While people in Essex,
11:20they may not be our target audience here at Kent,
11:23but they don't think it's really going to help their issues.
11:26They don't think it's going to serve their needs.
11:28They don't think it's going to really help them
11:30in the same way that people in Dartford
11:32are going to benefit from this new crossing to east congestion.
11:36So it is still divided,
11:37although the approval has already happened.
11:39But it's all a result of the spending review.
11:41What it actually means, though,
11:43we'll have to wait and see later in the week.
11:45Yeah, lots of different divided opinions for sure.
11:48Time for a quick break now.
11:49See you in a minute.
11:49See you in a minute.
12:19See you in a minute.
12:49See you in a minute.
13:19See you in a minute.
13:49See you in a minute.
14:19See you in a minute.
14:49Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight live on KMTV.
15:13Now, tributes have been pouring in for a much-loved former North Fleet headteacher who was killed in the Air India tragedy.
15:21She's the third person from Kent said to be on the Boeing 787, which crashed in Ahmedabad last Thursday.
15:28Meanwhile, in Ramsgate, one minute.
15:30One minute silence was held this weekend to remember the local couple killed in the incident.
15:36Gabriel Morris joins me now.
15:38Gabriel Morris joins me now with a few more details.
15:40Gabriel, what can you tell us about this latest update over the sort of last few days?
15:43A third person from Kent, a third person from Kent, a third person from Kent believed to have been on that flight.
15:46Yeah, that emerged at the start of this weekend.
15:49And then, Pannanagar, former headmistress of North Fleet Nursery School.
15:53That's near Gravesend.
15:56And it's thought she was aboard that Air India flight last Thursday.
16:00It was the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on India on its way to Gatwick Airport.
16:09It was carrying 242 people, including 53 British nationals, now described as one of the worst air disasters involving UK passengers in four decades.
16:21Now, we've heard tributes coming in to Pannanagar from the nursery school where she used to work.
16:26And she's been described as a remarkable leader, mentor and friend.
16:31And she's been described as a guiding light, an inspiration and a champion for every child and staff member.
16:37Well, she was there between 2005 and 2020.
16:41And her remembered legacy is for one of kindness, belief and tireless dedication for early years education.
16:48And she said to have empowered every student to dream big and strive for excellence.
16:55That's in some of the tributes which have been coming out from the school over the past couple of days, over the weekend.
17:01And, Gabe, we'll just remind us of some of those details as well.
17:04Of course, this weekend you were in Ramsgate and we'll see your report shortly.
17:08But remind us about some of those details and more that are coming out days on days as it's going to happen.
17:15It will be weeks and months until we find out what really happened.
17:18Well, the rescue mission is over, believed to be no more survivors on board that flight.
17:22There was one British citizen from Leicester.
17:25But we're now moving into the investigation stage, looking at what actually went wrong.
17:31We've heard it being reported from some local media in India that a distress call came out saying,
17:37Mayday, no thrust, losing power, unable to lift.
17:41But full details of this we won't know until the full investigation begins.
17:45What we do know is the black box had been found last Friday.
17:49And this morning confirmation came through that the cockpit voice recorder was found.
17:54Those two bits of equipment will give us a key insight to what happened.
17:58And the black box telling us what the plane was actually doing.
18:02But the cockpit voice recorder is essentially a microphone in the cockpit,
18:06recording everything the pilot has said, but also hearing the sounds of what was happening.
18:10That will give us a key insight to what actually happened on that doomed flight.
18:14But, Abi, as you're saying, there were two other Kent residents among the victims,
18:18Fingal and Jamie Greenlaw Meek, a Ramsgate couple and co-founders of the Wellness Foundry.
18:24They did die in that plane crash, it's believed,
18:26although we haven't had confirmation yet from the government on this.
18:31But this weekend they were set to be a key part of Ramsgate Pride.
18:35Sadly, no longer able to be there.
18:37Marching through Ramsgate.
18:39But they will remember the one that tribute.
18:45Marching through Ramsgate, the town celebrated its second Pride event this weekend.
18:50But this year's celebration came with a heavy heart.
18:53Just two days before the event, Jamie and Fingal Greenlaw Meek boarded the Air India flight that crashed.
19:00The couple lost their lives, aged just 45 and 39.
19:05Before the music began, the crowd fell silent for a minute to honour their memory.
19:09Jamie and Fingal were set to play a big role in this year's Pride.
19:17But organisers say they knew the couple wouldn't have wanted the event counselled
19:21and believe their electric spirit lives on in every moment.
19:26They were basically part of our team.
19:28They were going to be hosting the Wellbeing Zone today.
19:31So, you know, it's a bittersweet day really for us.
19:34But they would want this vibe, wouldn't they?
19:36Exactly.
19:37This is exactly what they would have wanted is for us to enjoy ourselves like this.
19:40Yeah.
19:41And to celebrate really.
19:42They were into spirituality.
19:43It's like they weren't about being sad.
19:46No.
19:47My fingertips are holding on to the cracks in our foundation.
19:52Singer-songwriter Kate Nash headlined today's event.
19:55She rose to fame in the noughties with hits like Foundations.
19:59After addressing the crowd from the community stage, she paid tribute to Jamie and Fingal.
20:03I think that these are important times to feel the support of a community
20:09and remember that a community is about a bunch of individuals
20:13and to support each other through difficult times, you know,
20:18because, again, I think it just really reminds you of your humanity
20:21and the fragility of being human and that this,
20:24we don't know, like, how long we're going to be here for
20:27and so we should try to love each other.
20:30Friends of the couple stood among the crowd in Ramsgate.
20:34Their sudden loss felt deeply across the community,
20:37front and centre of today's pride.
20:40The community has lost a huge couple in Thanet, particularly in Ramsgate.
20:44And, like I say, my thoughts and prayers and love really goes out
20:47to their friends and family at this difficult time.
20:49My heart goes out to their families.
20:51It's devastating, truly.
20:52Yeah.
20:53Honestly, it's truly devastating.
20:55It almost makes you speechless.
20:57It's a good thing, maybe, that we'll help bring them together,
21:00to be fair, you know.
21:01Perhaps people will, I don't know, celebrate the event
21:04while still thinking of all the sad people that lost their lives.
21:08Yeah.
21:09When I go to Pride, I get to do with other people who just, yeah,
21:13who haven't got that chance too.
21:15This marks the first time the town has come together
21:17since the plane crash on Thursday.
21:19Ramsgate Pride says the couple's legacy
21:21will always be part of the town's story.
21:24Gabriel Morris for KNTV in Ramsgate.
21:33OK, next this evening, residents in Ham Street say
21:36developers have left them feeling under siege
21:39after taking down the village sign.
21:41Crews removed the sign last January
21:43and it still hasn't been replaced.
21:46Developer Dan Daris said it wanted the new 50-home estate
21:49to be included within the village boundary.
21:51A spokesperson confirmed a replacement sign is due for delivery this week
21:56and will be reinstalled once it arrives.
21:58The company apologised for the delay, blaming ongoing highway works.
22:02Meanwhile, Kent County Council says it's aware of the missing sign
22:06and has instructed the developers to put it back.
22:09All right, after a mixed weekend of thunder, lightning and some sunshine,
22:14the calm after the storm for sure,
22:16the weather seems to be taking a turn for the better this week,
22:19especially with some high, a low 30, sorry, forecast for the rest of the UK.
22:24But with those high temperatures creeping into the county,
22:27let's take a look at the forecast.
22:28Clear skies across the county tonight with highs of 18 degrees in Dartford,
22:39winds of 6 miles per hour.
22:41Into tomorrow morning, we're seeing much of the same,
22:45but sunshine across the county, low wind but warm temperatures
22:48into the afternoon as well.
22:50Highs of 26 in North Kent, 23 down by the coast.
22:54And this is the picture for the rest of the week.
22:57Bright sunshine, highs of 27 here in Kent,
23:00highs of 32 elsewhere in the UK.
23:12Now, don't forget, as well as keeping up to date
23:14with all your latest stories across Kent here at 5.30 every weekday,
23:19you can keep up to date over on our website.
23:21It's kmtv.co.uk.
23:23There you'll find all our reports, including this one,
23:25about how the closure of the Tilbury Ferry
23:28has affected businesses in Gravesend.
23:31The River Thames, a five-minute crossing by boat,
23:34but since the ferry linking Gravesend and Tilbury
23:37stopped running last year,
23:39those hoping to quickly hop between Kent and Essex
23:41are now faced with a 50-minute drive.
23:44The closure came about after Kent County Council
23:47and Thurrock Council pooled their joint funding,
23:50leaving the operator Jetstream Tours with no choice
23:53but to axe the service.
23:55It's meant businesses such as the Three Doors pub
23:58have been left without many of their regular customers.
24:01We got to know people so well from the other side,
24:05but all of a sudden that's stopped.
24:07There's no way we will see them.
24:09It's a loss of revenue, of course.
24:11You have to sort of adjust generally.
24:13The climate's always changing,
24:16but that was a loss which should never have happened.
24:20Leicester is just one of hundreds in support of a petition
24:23to bring back the Tilbury Ferry,
24:25all set up by Gravesend's MP.
24:28This is really about how we can keep this on the agenda
24:31and really call on all the various businesses
24:34around the Thames Estuary, across the water.
24:37How can we all work together with councils
24:40to really reinstate this Tilbury-Gravesend ferry?
24:45Further into the town,
24:46other traders say the problems are spreading there too.
24:49We've lost all that trade that came from that
24:51and we're not the only ones.
24:53The High Street, a few of the businesses from the High Street
24:56have actually closed because they just couldn't sustain it
24:59because there was nobody walking up and down the High Street anymore.
25:02We do have some that have still continued to come,
25:04but they're telling me they've got four buses to get here.
25:07So there's a few far between
25:08and yeah, we definitely, we definitely need to be back.
25:12For decades, the Tilbury Ferry took people
25:15to and from Gravesend from that pier over there,
25:18an easy way to cross the Thames.
25:20Not all hope is lost though
25:21because just a few miles down the river that way
25:23and the new Lower Thames Crossing is set to be built,
25:27although it will take a few years
25:28before anybody in this town sees the benefits.
25:31We reached out to both Kent and Thurrock Council
25:34about the future of the ferry service
25:36and we're told, without joint funding from Thurrock Council,
25:39KCC is currently unable to support the service independently
25:43but is committed to working with a range of partners
25:45to explore a long-term solution.
25:48Meanwhile, Thurrock Council told us
25:49it's also committed to working with partners
25:52to seek a long-term sustainable funding model.
25:55So with the issue of funding still lost in deep waters,
25:58it seems the Tilbury Ferry's future remains uncertain
26:01and these gates closed.
26:04Bartholomew Hall for KMTV in Gravesend.
26:08Just before we go to the break,
26:10former EastEnders star and Herne Bay resident John Altman
26:13has auctioned off an exclusive recording
26:15from a 1967 Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd gig.
26:20Altman, best known for playing Nick Cotton,
26:22met the music legends in Chatham when he was just 15.
26:25He helped carry equipment into the venue
26:27and between sets pulled out his tape recorder
26:30to interview Pink Floyd's Rick Wright and Jimi Hendrix.
26:33He described Hendrix as gentle and cool
26:36and called it a day to remember.
26:38The tape sold at auction for more than £3,000.
26:43Very interesting.
26:43All right, time for a very quick break.
26:45More news from across the county in a few minutes' time.
30:08Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight Live on KMTV.
30:13Now, a reminder of your top story this evening.
30:16Cars floating down the street, front doors snapped in half and families left with nothing.
30:23Residents in Dover are dealing with the aftermath of a storm that hit the UK with 30,000 lightning strikes.
30:30Some have had their homes destroyed, many too scared to even begin counting up the cost.
30:37While there are calls for the local authorities to have better emergency planning in place, the council leader says he's reaching out to the government for business support.
30:47Well, I've been to meet some of the residents on Castle Street in one of the worst hit areas.
30:53We kind of took the brunt of it.
30:57A flat turned upside down.
31:00Water came in here.
31:02You can see here, it came from everywhere.
31:05And a business reduced to floorboards.
31:09Two properties all but destroyed by severe flooding.
31:13A yellow weather warning was issued days in advance and upgraded to amber just before the rain began.
31:19And 30,000 lightning strikes hit the UK on Friday the 13th of June.
31:25And for Castle Street in Dover, their luck really had run out.
31:30Rob Hancocks and his wife were watching TV when the speed of the flood snapped their front door in half.
31:37This is where they were sat when the water started rushing in and if you actually look around the room you can see the level which the water rose to while they were actually still inside the flat trapped.
31:51Okay.
31:53Rob's wife on the phone to emergency services, pleading for help.
31:59I'm trying, please hurry up.
32:02Oh my God, we've lost absolutely everything.
32:09He finally got to the back door to open and release the pressure and just watched as his life emptied into the garden.
32:21What do you think is salvageable?
32:23Nothing.
32:24Nothing.
32:25Not really anything.
32:26Like all the woods done once the water gets into it, it will blow it all.
32:31The sofas.
32:33So maybe like the TV stands might be salvageable, some plastic tubs, tables and my fishing rods and things like that.
32:41But everything else is destroyed.
32:43And it's a similar story just a few houses down.
32:47Thomas Poblete just recently opened a homeware shop here.
32:51Has this ever happened to you before flooding this badly then?
32:54No.
32:55No.
32:56My neighbour's been here for more than 10 years.
32:58It's never happened.
32:59You came down at 6 in the morning and saw everything.
33:01Yeah.
33:02That must have been a shock.
33:03It was, it was.
33:04So then it started like lifting everything up so it wouldn't get ruined.
33:08But all of these like paintings are soaking wet.
33:15Any idea at this point how much this might cost you?
33:18No.
33:19No but it's...
33:20Dread to think?
33:21Dread to think?
33:22Yeah I don't want to.
33:23I don't want to think about it.
33:24Now the community is coming together to help businesses and families rebuild.
33:29And make sure it doesn't happen again.
33:32To be fair to local authorities we haven't really had this event happen before.
33:36This severity.
33:37But I would certainly like to learn, to see them learn a few lessons and boost their emergency
33:42planning.
33:43Because Dover is the, one of the most strategically important port towns in the country.
33:48And imagine if this was during a bank holiday weekend or a great getaway or something like
33:53that.
33:54You know the place would have been gridlocked.
33:55And then there could have been a serious loss of life so, or a threat to life.
33:58The council have said they'd welcome better emergency planning and are reaching out to
34:03the government for support for any businesses affected.
34:07But for now, Castle Street hopes that help will be the only thing on their doorstep.
34:13Abby Hook for KMTV in Dover.
34:17And earlier I spoke to Dover District Council's Labour leader, Kevin Mills.
34:23Thank you for joining me today, Kevin.
34:25Now have you been down to Castle Street to speak to many of the residents who've been
34:29affected by this weekend's flooding?
34:32Not particularly Castle Street.
34:33I was in the town on Saturday, sort of late morning.
34:38I was up Folkestone Road and some of the other areas to look at it.
34:42And then again on Sunday I was down there and you could still see the people pumping
34:47out there and the impacts they had on individuals and businesses in Dover.
34:52And what are you and the council doing to support those people who have been impacted?
34:57I mean I got, the first call I had was about midnight on Friday night from the
35:01Chief Exec saying that we had a critical incident.
35:03They were setting up a respite home, a village hall, to house the families.
35:11At that stage I don't think we were particularly aware of the sheer number or the numbers.
35:16It panned out as 23 properties, three were vacant anyway.
35:20I think it was 21 individuals that we put into temporary accommodation at that stage.
35:25But of course that was there and then.
35:28And it's over the next few days that you're actually starting to see the fill impact on
35:32a lot of other families.
35:33Because the vast majority of the properties were not council properties.
35:37They were privately owned or had private landlords.
35:41People are calling on the council to have better emergency planning and provisions in place.
35:47What would you say to that?
35:49I think to some extent that we will end up doing a wash up on this.
35:55But we ended up with the emergency planning when we had the fire at Conqueror House.
35:59That seemed to go as well as it could possibly go.
36:02I've yet to hear that the emergency planning was an issue.
36:06But if people have got specific examples of where they think the emergency plan didn't work.
36:11You know, I'm more than happy to hear from them.
36:13And I can raise those concerns to make sure that doesn't happen again.
36:17So, you know, the emergency planning team kicked in.
36:21You know, let's say I was taking phone calls from 12 o'clock onwards that night on what was being set up.
36:27And we stood the centre down by about 8 o'clock the following morning.
36:32You know, I've not been made aware of any specific issues regarding the emergency planning.
36:38You know, the sad reality is that, you know, somebody just sort of decided to pick up the English Channel and dump it,
36:44not just on Dover, but you would have said predominantly in that area.
36:48But, you know, we have a panning team.
36:51You try to mitigate against everything that's, you know, potentially an issue.
36:55But, say, if people have got concerns, I'm more than happy to listen to them, meet with them,
37:01hear what their concerns are and make sure that we feed that in to ensure we're never in,
37:05well, hopefully we'll never be in this situation again.
37:08But, you know, any time will tell, Sergeant.
37:11Will you be heading down to Castle Street to meet those people and hear those views about emergency planning?
37:16Yeah, I'm more than happy to go down to meet the residents in Castle Street.
37:21I'm more than happy to meet any resident in the district.
37:23And particularly, I'm happy to meet the businesses as well because, you know,
37:27it's had a major impact on a number of businesses.
37:29You know, I have been speaking to officers today about writing to the government,
37:33we'll go via MP, to see whether there's any assistance that the government could give as well.
37:38Because, you know, although some will have insurance, I'm sure that will not be easily paid out.
37:43Some won't have any insurance.
37:45But, you know, we need to look at what can be done for them.
37:48But I'm more than happy to go to Castle Street,
37:51knock on some doors and speak to people about how they feel the emergency planning can be dealt with better.
37:56And an issue that arose the morning after the storm was that a lot of residents woke up to see their cars that they had abandoned because the driving conditions were just too dangerous had actually been ticketed.
38:07Now, the council has apologised and said that there will be no enforcement action.
38:11But how could something like this have been avoided from even happening in the first place?
38:16Well, I think the issue and I've raised it and I was in dialogue with the chief exec that morning saying, you know, before I lose my temper, I'm telling you now, we're not going to charge any of those residents.
38:26We are not going to take enforcement action against them.
38:30You know, the traffic wardens went out and, you know, to some of them, it was very black and white.
38:36There's an infringement.
38:37I mean, the reality is also, though, you know, I'm told and I've asked for an update this morning, we've started to write them off.
38:43Those that have come in and appealed, you know, we're taking a very, very pragmatic approach to that.
38:49But also, I'm also told that several people who were parked illegally have also paid.
38:54So there's a mixture of those that, you know, this was them abandoning their vehicles.
38:58I can quite rightly see why they've done that.
39:00And, you know, I'm more than happy to intervene and get those tickets written off.
39:05And then some individuals that illegally parked outside of those key areas that were horrendously hit.
39:12Who actually paid their thing.
39:14But, you know, in reality, if I'd known they were going out at 6.30 in the morning, I'd have told them not to go to the areas that were directly affected.
39:23But somehow that message never got out.
39:25Well, Kevin, thank you very much for your time today.
39:28And I look forward to catching up with you as well.
39:30If you do head down to Castle Street and speak to those residents I've spoken to as well.
39:33Thank you for your time.
39:35Cheers.
39:36Thanks a lot.
39:37Next this evening, a Kent prison has been branded more unstable in a damning new report.
39:44Inspectors say drones are regularly being used to smuggle drugs into HMP Elmney on Sheppey.
39:50With compromised window barriers and poor drug testing being just some of the issues flagged.
39:55The report also reveals a rise in serious assaults on staff and warns the prison is struggling to get violence and contraband under control.
40:04It comes just months after a young inmate took his own life just 48 hours after arriving, sparking calls for urgent improvements to staff training.
40:14Well, team leader at HM Inspectorate of Prisons Angus Jones told us they're struggling to find a way to tackle drones.
40:23We found that many of the grills over the windows that should protect against a drone and other ingress routes were compromised.
40:34So essentially there are holes in them or they've been bent out of shape so that prisoners could use sticks and other devices to hook packages off drones and bring them into the prison.
40:47We've also been getting reaction from the Howard League, which advocates for a more humane and effective approach, as they say, to criminal justice and prisons.
40:57To have prisons like Elmney, where people are locked up for extended periods of time, where they feel, as many people in this prison and many in this prison feel, they feel unsafe, where they have easy access to drugs, where they have use of force against them.
41:12You know, these are places that are becoming disrespect to people places.
41:17And we need people in prison to be treated with respect and dignity so they can return to the community in a way that they become good neighbours, good friends, good co-workers.
41:27And I think the report on Elmney shows that this is a prison which is setting people up to fail.
41:33The Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the availability of drugs and other illicit items in prisons is yet more evidence of the crisis this government inherited.
41:45They've taken swift and decisive action.
41:48Time for a break.
42:03space.
42:05We've refined some severe answers and those situations they've been treating dealing with, right?
42:10draws benefits.
42:11We're not able to get through thehi that theCoV that we are denied.
42:14We're not able to get through the
42:19In her Angeles, search for a number of
52:05That's it.
52:06You need to speed up a little bit now.
52:07So, I can push through experiences.
52:11There you go.
52:12That's it nice and easy.
52:13Open the door.
52:14Don't be afraid to put your hands like this, there.
52:15Just to sort of protect the slide.
52:17There you go.
52:18And that's it.
52:19It was too good.
52:20April 11
52:22slide it, tip a knife on the tray, really good, yeah, that's it, really good, rinse
52:29and repeat, yeah, that's it.
52:31He described the ideal weight of a slab to be 185 grams, and put me to the test to see
52:36if I could beat him, and I managed to beat the expert at his own game.
52:47Basically, we take our core ingredients, sugar, cream, water, salt, and then any natural flavours
52:52that you want to put in there, so for example, a salted caramel, we have a homemade caramel
52:56recipe that's made in-house, just sure in water, we plop it in the pan and we just boil
53:00it to temperature, or what flavour you're making, so sometimes if you've got something
53:04like berries in there, you might alter your temperature slightly, then you pour it on
53:08the marble slab, and then a key part of the fudge making is actually just letting it sit
53:12as long as you can.
53:13For National Fudge Day, the staff took part in a special charity event raising money for
53:17motor neurone disease.
53:18For National Fudge Day this year, we worked with the Motor Neurone Disease
53:21Association doing a bike ride, so we all got exercise bikes in our six stores, and
53:26we rode as far as we can in Canterbury, we managed 150 miles in between everyone.
53:32Swedening the deal with a bag of fudge, I think it's safe to say I've thoroughly celebrated
53:36National Fudge Day.
53:38Kai Wei for CAME TV in Canterbury.
53:43It's safe to say, safe to say I had an ulterior motive when sending you on this report today,
53:48I think Kai, because we have some fudge here, one of which you've made, I don't know what
53:52one it is, but tell us, because you got exceptionally close, you needed to get 185 on how much it weighed
54:00each slab, you got 182, better than the boss, so does that mean you're leaving us here at
54:04CAME TV, you're off to make fudge for a living?
54:06Yeah, it was surprising actually, I didn't, sorry Mike if you're watching, I didn't expect
54:12him to be so over, but we were all very surprised.
54:16So it's less you being good at it, more him having an off day, maybe he had a lot of fudge
54:21to make today.
54:22He was being a very good teacher and I couldn't have done it without him, but yeah, I was surprised
54:27I got that close, you can see in the package that you just saw, I was cheering and celebrating.
54:31So tell us, the process of making fudge and what went into it, so were they mixing, melting
54:36things as well, then obviously rolling it out, waiting until it's cool, take us through
54:39the process.
54:40Yeah, so for this batch, first of all they put all their ingredients in the pot and
54:46they have to let it boil to a very specific temperature apparently, and then as you can
54:51see in the shot here, they pour it all out and then they have to wait for it to cool,
54:54and they're very specific about needing to cool it just enough so that it doesn't like
54:59melt or so the fudge doesn't just break or anything like that.
55:05And then in the video, you can see me very badly trying to scrape all of it, just trying
55:10to mix it all together and try and aerate it.
55:13And then you get fudge and they explain that because they do it all by hand, their taste is
55:17really unique and different to others, which I was very surprised to taste.
55:23What were some of the unique flavours that they had that you saw?
55:26Oh, well the one they were doing for, the one they were raising money for charity for
55:33was a Rocky Road one.
55:36Oh nice.
55:37It was very nice.
55:38Yeah, I imagine you've eaten, tried a lot.
55:40Okay, I can't wait any longer, everyone in the gallery is going crazy, they really
55:45want some, I'm going to be the first person to try it because I said so.
55:49Right, what have we got here?
55:52Right, well you can tell from the piece that this is the one that I made, if you'd like
55:57to try this.
55:58Okay, I'll try this first.
55:59It worries me I haven't tried it first, so I'm in case, what if it's poison?
56:02I should bite it.
56:03No comment.
56:04It feels like reminiscent of when I tried edible soap on the morning show and it went terribly
56:07wrong, but let's hope it's not that bad.
56:09It's about to be the world's best prank.
56:11No.
56:12And what flavour is this?
56:14What do you think it is?
56:15Mmm.
56:16Sorry.
56:17Salted caramel.
56:18It is, yes.
56:19It's salted caramel.
56:20And this was the very piece that featured, that I got very close to the goal weight.
56:26I'm going to try not to eat it all.
56:27Okay, so this one, some sort of chocolate flavour I'm guessing?
56:30This one, the two people I interviewed, this was their favourite flavour and it is now my favourite
56:35flavour after trying it.
56:36And mine too.
56:37Mmm.
56:38It's all the time we have on Kent tonight.
56:39Oh.
56:40Too busy eating fudge.
56:41Bye-bye.
56:42Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
56:45.
56:46conquin'
56:47.
56:50.
56:53.
56:55.
56:59.
57:04.
57:06.
57:08.