Please give us longer.So say Tovil Parish Council as a notice to vacate the parish centre looms into view.The Diocese of Canterbury plans to empty the building by Thursday, February 28.But local councillors want more time.Mike FitzGerald, chairman of the Coombe Farm and Tovil...

by Andy Gray agray@thekmgroup.co.uk A HOMELESS charity has praised a proposal to tackle derelict houses in Maidstone. The Empty Homes Plan is designed to cut the number of unoccupied properties in the borough by 2015. Drawn up by Maidstone council, it includes an offer of financial help for...

THE King Street multi-storey car park in Maidstone town centre could be more quickly redeveloped than previously thought. In October, Maidstone council decided to demolish the 1970s car park because erosion of the concrete structure threatened a major refurbishment bill, possibly of up to...

YOU don't get this kind of style at Glastonbury. VIP ticket holders at Music on the Hill this year will get to listen to a night of great music while relaxing in the comfort of a special guest area designed by fashion guru Karen Millen. The Maidstone-born designer is founder of Teens Unite...

by Andy Gray agray@thekmgroup.co.uk TOVIL Parish Centre is up for sale in what has been described as a "devastating blow" for the community. The building in Church Road not only houses the parish council but a host of groups, including Maidstone Boxing Club and 1st Maidstone and Tovil...

by Andy Gray agray@thekmgroup.co.uk ARE we all at sea? British Airways certainly seems to think so. An eagle-eyed passenger was surprised to see the company's in-flight navigation system show Maidstone as being in the Thames Estuary off Sheppey. Michael Benson, 47, was on a BA flight from...

VINCENT the goat couldn't help but butt in during an open day at Buttercups Goat Sanctuary in Boughton Monchelsea showed how the centre supports hundreds of abandoned goats.Families at the Winter Wellies and Waterproof Day at the Wierton Road centre also heard about its sponsorship...

Revamp to continue in April by Andy Gray agray@thekmgroup.co.uk THE regeneration of Maidstone High Street is to restart in April. It follows completion of phase one of the project in June last year * a £2m revamp of the area between Mill Street and Mall Chequers shopping centre. Phase two...

by Andy Gray agray@thekmgroup.co.uk DOG owners in Maidstone are creatures of habit when it comes to disposing of their pets' waste. Despite a dog bin in Boxley Road having been removed months ago, people continue to tie poop-filled plastic bags to the post where it stood. This unofficial...

A WOMAN and two men have been arrested after a couple were attacked during a night out in Maidstone town centre. Police say a 31-year-old man and his partner were left bloodied but not seriously injured by the assault near the old Army & Navy building in Week Street, in the early hours of...

by Angela Cole Chief Reporter acole@thekmgroup.co.uk MAIDSTONE council is planning to get an outside contractor to run the Hazlitt Theatre. The proposal has been shrouded in secrecy and not formally discussed in any public council committees. But expressions of interest for companies who...

by Angela Cole acole@thekmgroup.co.uk A PETITION calling for better road safety measures has been handed to councillors after a man died in an accident on New Year's Day. More than 600 people signed the petition, organised by Heidi Griffiths, whose house looks out on the crash scene at lower...

FOOTBALL fans can help raise funds for good causes by parking at County Gate offices in Staceys Street on Maidstone United's Saturday match days.Members of Maidstone Lions Club will offer parking between noon and 5.15pm for a donation. RSS feed from...

by Angela Cole Chief Reporter acole@thekmgroup.co.uk PARKING charges for the disabled have been "quietly" brought in at Maidstone Hospital.The change at the Hermitage Lane site comes a only a few months after Medway Maritime Hospital introduced similar fees and had to partially back down when...

MORE than 4,000 jobs are at risk nationally following last week's news that DVD rental firm Blockbuster has called in administrators. The chain has a branch in Week Street, Maidstone. Lee Manning, from adminstrator Deloitte's said: "In recent years Blockbuster has faced increased competition...

Camping, canoeing and trying to avoid winning a toilet seat...some of the diverse activities members of Kent Scouts * this paper's Charity of the Year * will be undertaking in 2013, as chief reporter Angela Cole reports FORGET woggles and badges * Scouting 21st century style no longer...

Cones - and delays - return as gas works resume by Andy Gray agray@thekmgroup.co.uk EMPTINESS isn't a term usually associated with feelings of happiness or freedom.But drivers on Maidstone's one-way system during the Christmas and New Year period will have been positively beaming at ...

by Chris Hunter chunter@thekmgroup.co.uk A TAXI driver says robbers called him "a nice man" and thanked him * before beating him repeatedly about the head and trying to steal his car. Maidstone-based cab driver Mohammad Rahman picked up his three assailants in Pudding Lane, at about 4am...

A WINTER trail event in the grounds of Leeds Castle proved popular with young visitors.Some 4,500 children visited the Maidstone attraction during the festive break, and many took part in the challenge to fill in answers to clues provided on a sheet of paper as they travelled the...

Cones - and delays - return as gas works resume by Andy Gray agray@thekmgroup.co.uk EMPTINESS isn't a term usually associated with feelings of happiness or freedom.But drivers on Maidstone's one-way system during the Christmas and New Year period will have been positively beaming at ...

by Chris Hunter chunter@thekmgroup.co.uk A TAXI driver says robbers called him "a nice man" and thanked him * before beating him repeatedly about the head and trying to steal his car. Maidstone-based cab driver Mohammad Rahman picked up his three assailants in Pudding Lane, at about 4am...

A WINTER trail event in the grounds of Leeds Castle proved popular with young visitors.Some 4,500 children visited the Maidstone attraction during the festive break, and many took part in the challenge to fill in answers to clues provided on a sheet of paper as they travelled the...

Rival candidate launches online petition saying... AN ONLINE petition has been launched calling for the resignation of Maidstone and the Weald MP Helen Grant after details about her £20,000-a-year second home expenses claim.Mrs Grant, who no longer has a permanent home in the constituency,...

AS RATTY said, there's nothing quite like messing about on the river. And John MacKevitt certainly agrees. He has spent the past 43 years working on or by the River Medway, as well as living next to it at East Farleigh Lock. Mr MacKevitt, who turned 65 on New Year's Eve, retired from his...

A NEW estate of 43 houses looks set to be built on land close to the London Road Park and Ride site. The proposed development on the goods yard of Bunyards Farm in Allington has been complicated by the fact that the site straddles the boundary between Tonbridge and Malling, and Maidstone...

by Nicola Everett messengernews@thekmgroup.co.uk THE new victims' minister has given her backing to an organisation set up to protect witnesses in court cases. Maidstone MP Helen Grant described people who give evidence as "unsung heroes" and champions of the justice system. The UK...

SANTA had a host of little helpers to hand at the Bearsted and Thurnham Christmas Bazaar.Visitors of all ages made a festive beeline for the WI Hall in The Street where stalls selling gifts of all shapes and sizes awaited.A selection of seasonal games also proved popular with youngsters. ...

by Alan Smith ajsmith@thekmgroup.co.uk `FAREWELL to the town's oldest resident'. That was the headline in the KM recently, which featured a tribute to Mary Holding, who had died at the Eastfield Residential Home in Maidstone aged 106. But it prompted Sarah Milligan to get in touch,...

by Angela Cole acole@thekmgroup.co.uk ROYAL Mail took on a whole new meaning for school children last week, when a letter from HM The Queen arrived. Paintings and drawings of the Queen during her Diamond Jubilee year were given the royal seal of approval by Her Majesty who wrote thanking...

A COMPULSIVE hoarder has been served an eviction order because of his uncontrollable obsession. Brian Clenshaw has a week to find a new home after his landlord obtained a county court order instructing him to leave. The 52-year-old has filled his flat in Mount Ephraim, Tunbridge Wells, with...

With their expert skills and history of transforming properties from derelict shells, DIY disasters and tumbledown wrecks, there are a number of buildings around Maidstone which are crying out for the team to take a look at.n The former ABC cinema at the bottom of Gabriels Hill. Derelict since...

by Andy Gray agray@thekmgroup.co.uk IT'S beginning to look a lot like Christmas following Maidstone's festive lights switch-on. Crowds joined kmfm presenters Rob Wills and Emma Saint to see Jubilee Square and Fremlin Walk lit up before the big day. Kmfm stages, set up at both locations,...

by Chris Hunter chunter@thekmgroup.co.uk A NEW Next Home and Fashion shop is set to change the face of a business park and bring 180 jobs to Maidstone. The first glimpse of the planned shop at Eclipse Park, near junction 7 of the M20, will be revealed this week at a public exhibition in the...

by Angela Cole Chief reporter acole@thekmgroup.co.uk SOCIAL housing applicants in Maidstone may have to prove they are making a `positive contribution' before being considered in future. The radical plans being considered by Maidstone Borough Council are part of an overhaul of the system for...

by Andy Gray agray@thekmgroup.co.uk WITH a roar of the crowd, Maidstone's Christmas lights burst into life. Crowds packed the town centre to see Jubilee Square and Fremlin Walk lit-up four weeks before the big day. kmfm stages set-up at both locations hosted a variety of acts ahead of the...

by Andy Gray agray@thekmgroup.co.uk IT OUGHT to have been the cause for a celebration of sorts. After a four-year campaign, people living in Broadway Heights were delighted when Kent County Council announced it would look into relocating a bus stop from outside their block of flats in Tonbridge...