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A primary school will now offer nursery education after a proposal to join Seal Church of England Primary School and Seal Village Pre-School was approved by Kent County Council.

Councillors approved the proposal on Friday meaning more than 300 pupils will study at the primary school near Sevenoaks, in September.

Elizabeth Mitchell, headteacher of the primary school, said she was “delighted” about the decision.

Sevenoaks ward councillor, Roger Gough added: “Seal Church of England Primary School is a good school and the proposal to change the age range of the school to include nursery provision has my support.”

It is hoped the approval would help ease the transition of children from pre-school to the primary school as the students would be situated in a classroom next door within the main building.

Eleven police officers were assaulted while on duty over the weekend.

Between Friday and Sunday the officers from Kent Police reported being spat at, kicked, threatened with violence, punched and pushed.

One officer required hospital treatment after hitting his head while attempting to restrain a suspect.

At each incident the suspect was arrested using new powers under the Assaults on Emergency Workers Act 2018.

Deputy Chief Constable Tony Blaker said: “Every day our officers are required to attend unpredictable, challenging and sometimes volatile situations.

"This doesn’t mean they should accept being abused, assaulted or spat at as part of the job.”

In addition to the new legislation to protect officers from violence, the number of Taser-trained officers is being increased.

At the end of 2018 there were 334 Taser-trained officers in Kent. This figure is expected to rise to between 1,000 and 1,500.

BBC

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BBC

Visitors to Dartford's Orchards and Priory shopping centres can add crime suspects to their shopping lists, thanks to an initiative involving the borough council, Kent Police and the Crimestoppers charity.

Images of a dozen fugitives with links to the town will be appearing on screens in both centres in the hope of jogging the memories of shoppers and capturing a few of the area's most wanted individuals.

Crimestoppers, which does not identify informants, wants to cash in on the success of the Most Wanted feature on its website by encouraging shoppers to make contact if they recognise any of the faces on the screens.

Among the first 12 to feature in the six-month trial are people wanted for assault, harassment and burglary, with links to Dartford through their alleged crimes or their last known addresses.

Peter Rolington, of Crimestoppers in Kent, said: “While Kent is a comparatively safe county, there are people at large who are wanted by law enforcement. I encourage everyone to check the digital screens and our website and to let us know immediately if you have any information on any of the individuals."

RAIB

A worker suffered life-changing injuries when he was hit by a train at a Channel Tunnel freight depot.

The man, who was driving a buggy on a level crossing, attempted to jump clear as the train approached, but was struck and dragged 20 metres, an investigation found.

The investigation found "significant gaps" in the management of safety at Dollands Moor yard, near Folkestone, which is operated by the UK's biggest rail freight company DB Cargo.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch said that lighting in a subway - intended to allow workers to safely cross the train tracks - was broken when the crash took place in the early hours of 4 September 2018.

Use of the subway was not enforced and most staff chose to cross the tracks above ground, a report said.

The level crossing was only supposed to be used in emergencies when trains had been told to stop, but investigators found there were "no barriers, signs or written instructions" to inform staff.

The injured worker was "unaware he was in an unsafe position," the report said.

Paul Carter will "refocus his mind" as Kent County Council leader after pledging to step down as chairman of the County Councils Network (CCN).

The body was established in 1997 and is made up of 36 county local authorities. It has been described as the ‘voice’ of UK’s counties.

Mr Carter, who will leave his post in September, said he was "proud" to lead the cross-party organisation in its efforts to lobby the Government for extra funding and support.

The Maidstone councillor, who became chairman in 2015, said: “It was a particularly demanding job being leader of a large county council.

“Fitting that in with this role has been a challenge but I thoroughly enjoyed my four years as chair and I wish all the best to my successor.”

Kent County Council

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A victim of a scam handed over £3,000 cash to a fraudster after a bogus telephone call from a man posing as a police officer.

Kent Police said it was one of eight similar reports on Thursday from people living in Faversham.

In each call, the man claimed to be from the police and said he had someone in custody who had cloned their bank card or told the caller that they had a substantial amount of money taken from their account.

They were then told to withdraw money from their account and meet a courier who would collect the money.

Det Sgt Rachel Howson from the Volume Fraud Team said: “Unfortunately those who are targeted are often the most vulnerable, such as elderly people or victims with learning difficulties.”

She added that police officers will never ask a member of the public for their bank details or money over the phone.

County councillors criticised north Kent’s dermatology provider for long waiting times and unanswered phonecalls.

Their complaint was aimed at DMC Healthcare, a private company which took over the running of skin care clinics from Medway Maritime Hospital in April.

Patients with severe skin conditions have complained about not being able to get through to anyone from DMC for an appointment.

Almost 70 patients have waited more than a year to be seen by a specialist.

The dermatology services changed hands after the trust, which runs Medway Maritime Hospital, handed the contract back for patients in Medway, Swale, Dartford, Swanley and Gravesham.

A report by Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (MCG), which was presented to the committee, outlined the actions taken by DMC to cut the waiting times down for patients.

It read: “DMC has received significantly higher than anticipated volumes of calls (46,000 in April 2019) as a result of the transfer of services which has resulted in patients experiencing delays and difficulties contacting DMC.

"To address the backlog DMC will continue to hold a significantly higher number of clinics to ensure patients are treated as quickly as possible and to prevent the backlog negatively impacting on the new service. Based on the current trajectory the backlog is anticipated to be cleared by June 2019.”

Following these revelations, Kent County Council is calling for those involved to defend their record to the committee before Christmas.

Kent Police has uncovered an alleged money laundering ring worth a “staggering” £5.2m in £20 notes.

When the in investigation was launched the Bank of England knew of at least £152,000 of counterfeit cash in circulation.

Chief constable Alan Pughsley told a meeting on Wednesday: “An operation commenced in January with regard to intelligence from the organised crime group counterfeiting currencies.

“Lots of work then commenced over a period including covert and overt work building an intelligence picture until May, where we believed we had identified the premises and believed there was a print run live at that time.

“We went to the address and found two individuals there at the time literally hands on in the middle of counterfeiting a number of £20 notes.”

At least five people have been arrested as part of the alleged conspiracy to print fake notes at a business premises in Beckenham.

Mr Pughsley added: “This is, according to the Bank of England, the biggest ever seizure of £20 notes.

“It would have had significant damage to the UK economy."