Dover Express

Culture in spotlight as towns compete for national title

THE race to become the very first UK Town of Culture is heating up across East Kent, as Deal, Folkestone, and Chatham all prepare to battle it out for a £3 million prize. The scheme, which was launched by the Government this year, aims to celebrate...

Freight train deal could spell end to Op Brock misery

GRIDLOCK caused by Operation Brock and Dover TAP could soon be a thing of the past following a Government deal to restore regular rail freight through the Channel Tunnel. The Department for Transport (DfT) announced last week that it has secured a...

‘A lack of British values’

REFORM UK has announced plans to “track down, detain and deport all illegal migrants in the UK” at a press conference in Dover this week. The party’s leader, Nigel Farage, and home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf revealed a raft of new security and...

‘CASINO BUDGET’

OPPOSITION leader Cllr Antony Hook said: “This is a casino budget. It contains KCC’s highest ever exposure to financial risk – £410 million of immediate risk in this year, up 60 per cent from last year, and what do we have to protect us against this...

Water firm ‘has put environment and customers at risk’

SOUTHERN Water has been issued a stark warning by government regulators after failing to meet supply targets for six consecutive years, putting both local customers and the environment at “unacceptable risk”. Leaked documents from Ofwat, the...

Scott: ‘Mega-force’ police reforms just won’t work

EVERY police force in the country will be able to use live facial recognition vans as part of the biggest shake-up in policing in decades. An existing 10 vans will rise to 50, rolled out nationwide, to catch criminals on police watchlists – and will...

AFTER THE STORM: CLEANUP WORK BEGINS

REPAIR crews were deployed across the Folkestone and Hythe coastline last Friday after gale-force winds from Storm Goretti left a trail of destruction, forcing the closure of a major coastal road. A yellow weather warning was in effect until Friday...

Hope House plans spark fear in community

TO the weekend visitor, Folkestone is a town transformed. With its vibrant Creative Quarter, a Harbour Arm full of eateries, and the recent accolade of being named the Sunday Times Best Place to Live in the South East for 2024, it is a flagship for...

THESE DIPPERS ARE NO CHICKENS – BRAVE SWIMMERS TAKE PART IN BOXING DAY PLUNGE

HUNDREDS of brave, fearsome, and “slightly hysterical” swimmers descended on Folkestone’s Sunny Sands on Friday for the long-awaited return of the annual Boxing Day Dip. Despite the winter temperatures, the event, organised for decades by the...

Wastes of space

ILLEGAL waste is being shipped into Kent from as far afield as Scotland and Wales and dumped on illicit landfill sites, it has been revealed. In some cases, organised crime groups (OCGs) are said to be making a fortune from disposing of rubbish, often...

Sea swimmers face another dry Boxing Day

Bird flu fuels wildlife crisis

CONSERVATIONISTS are warning that British birds are being “pushed past their limits,” with the ongoing national collapse of wild populations coinciding with a virulent strain of avian influenza that has hit areas of East Kent particularly hard. A...