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00:00Hello and
00:27welcome to Kentonite live on KMTV. I'm Bartholomew Hall and here are your top stories on Monday
00:33the 24th of June.
00:37Putin's actions reprehensible. Reform leader Nigel Farage is in Maidstone defending his
00:42stance on Russia.
00:44Farage makes outrageous statement. Farage defends Putin. Well I've done none of those
00:49things.
00:50Sliding back to swale. Cult favourite motorsport Speedway returns to Kent.
00:56Yeah there's a lot of bodyweight usage on a bike. Obviously for some people looking
01:01in you just get on a bike and ride it.
01:03And an eye for climbing. We meet the opticians taking on Mount Snowdon for charity.
01:19Good evening. I'm no Putin sympathiser. That was the message from Reform UK leader Nigel
01:25Farage at a high profile general election campaign event in Maidstone today. It's one
01:30of his first speeches since a controversial interview aired on Friday where Mr Farage
01:35denied he's defended Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine. Some pollsters have Mr Farage's
01:40party second in the overall election race with Maidstone and Morling now being a target
01:45constituency for Reform.
01:48Oliver Leader de Sacks made his way to the campaign bus to see what the former UKIP leader
01:52had to say to voters here in Kent.
01:55As you can see the Reform UK battle bus has turned up just outside Maidstone. This is
01:59where Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, made an impassioned speech alongside his local
02:05candidate Paul Thomas. Maidstone is polling around 20.1% in favour of reform according
02:12to YouGov. That makes him second place here in the election contest at current time. And
02:19they think they have a chance here but it isn't just about the local politics. Nigel
02:24Farage made an impassioned speech about foreign policy. Obviously he's been called a Putin
02:30apologist over the weekend, labelled as such by opposition parties, angry at his comments
02:36about the Ukraine-Russian conflict. Here was his response from atop the battle bus.
02:42I was alone. I was the only person in 2014 who said there will be a war in Ukraine. I
02:55can't take those words away and nor would I want to. The fact that I was more farsighted
03:01than the rest of our political leaders is not something that I'm going to apologise
03:06for. And yet this has been turned into Farage makes outrageous statement. Farage defends
03:13Putin. Well I've done none of those things. I would never ever defend Putin and think
03:20his behaviour in Ukraine and elsewhere has been reprehensible. Maidstone has been under
03:26Conservative control since 2010 under Helen Grant. And people here, the packed out crowd
03:31who are applauding Nigel Farage's feisty speech seem to be former Conservative voters.
03:37I asked them what drove them to reform the UK here in the constituency. None of the other
03:43parties have anything to offer. Labour in my opinion are the same as the Conservatives.
03:48There's no difference hardly. I've always voted for the Conservatives and I've always felt that
03:54not voting for them was a waste. But I think now that with the Reform Party there is a chance for
04:00somebody else to do something good and it's not a wasted vote anymore. Well I loved everything he
04:06said. Absolutely every sentence I relate to. I myself came to this country about 23 years ago.
04:15I did not come on a dinghy and I had to go through all the channels and pay a lot of money to go
04:23where I am today to be able to work and contribute to the economy. And I expect everyone to do the
04:30same. Not to be freeloaders in here coming and taking. And also to have respect for the country
04:37that took you in. I voted for the Conservative Party for over 60 years. I never vote for them
04:42again. They're just a bunch of liars. All they said to us has just been told lie after lie. Now
04:49I think the Reform Party is the way this country should go.
05:20Yolande Kenwood as an independent. David Nagy for the Liberal Democrats and Paul Thomas for Reform UK.
05:30Next night a bank in Chatham has been left with smashed windows and splattered with paint for the
05:38second time in the space of just a month. Pressure group Palestine Action has claimed responsibility
05:44for both incidents of vandalism. Kent Police has since issued an appeal for any witnesses to contact
05:49them. Alex Scaife has more.
06:14which comes only two weeks after a similar incident at the exact same branch which they have also
06:19claimed responsibility for. Writing on X the pressure on the bank to divest from Israel's biggest
06:26weapons firm is ramping up. These incidents came as part of a coordinated nationwide protest by the
06:32pro-Palestine group in which 20 bank buildings belonging to Barclays were said to have been
06:37targeted across the country. Barclays are yet to comment on today's incident but said two weeks
06:43ago while we support the right to protest we ask that campaigners do so in a way which respects our
06:48customers colleagues and property. Palestine Action have stated that similar radical direct action
06:56tactics would continue until Barclays stopped investing in certain companies additionally
07:01stating that the Barclays bank have a vested financial interest in selling weapons to Israel
07:07an accusation which the bank has vehemently denied. The bank branch has been closed for the rest of
07:12the day. This has been Alex Scaife for KMTV. CCTV footage has shown the moment a gazebo was stolen
07:20from the front of a house in Gillingham. Two children and a man can be seen walking past the
07:25house before lifting the chained up gazebo and leaving one leg behind. Stuart Wibley says he
07:31noticed the piece of garden furniture was missing last Thursday before immediately checking his CCTV
07:37to see what had happened. The 50-year-old who regularly uses the area for seasonal charity
07:42events has described the ordeal as a complete and utter nightmare. The incident has been reported to
07:47the police. Weather forecasters have issued a yellow heat health alert this week as temperatures
07:53could be set to climb towards heatwave levels across Kent. The likes of Ashford, Canterbury,
07:59Gravesend and Maize Zone look set to hit between 23 and 26 degrees between now and the end of the
08:05week, with some parts of the county possibly reaching as high as 30 degrees. The yellow
08:10warning means there could be increased pressure on health care services, with particularly those
08:16in the over 65 age group at the highest risk of getting ill. It comes into force from 8am this
08:21morning and will remain in place until 5pm Thursday. Moving on to some sport now. Speedway,
08:29it's not for the faint hearted. With brakeless bikes that are just a frame and an engine,
08:33it's as injury prone as it is fun to watch. In the 15 heats across a single meeting,
08:39racers can get up to top speeds of 50mph. But the Kent Kings, who have recently brought
08:45themselves back to life, have left their throne going from the National Development League to
08:50the No Brakes League. Finn McDermott has more. Speed is something valued in nearly every sport,
08:57including football, rugby, cricket, hockey and essentially Formula One. But how far would you
09:03be willing to go for just a bit more pace? Speedway riders man bikes that are stripped
09:08to their bare essentials in search of a lighter load and a higher top speed. It's 15 dead heats
09:14between two teams and while some can reach up to 50mph, none of them have brakes. No brakes,
09:21no gears, no hesitation. This is Speedway. To pick up points, the racers must cross the
09:28finish line first, second or third. The single racer in fourth gets nothing. With no brakes or
09:34linear gears to slow themselves down, a lot of body weight is used to turn corners, keep balance
09:39and stay on the bike itself, according to former GB youth champion Reece Naylor.
09:44Yeah, there's a lot of body weight usage on a bike. Obviously for some people looking in,
09:50you just get on the bike and ride it. But there is a lot of usage in your upper body,
09:54your legs and body of movement whilst you're going round the corner, whilst you're going
09:58down the straight also. So it's not just as simple as get on the bike and off you go.
10:03Last Sunday, the Kent Kings went up against the Ryehouse Rockets in a friendly to keep their
10:07senses sharp against competition. Throughout the heats, which last a minute each, several
10:12racers were thrown from their bikes and were mostly unharmed. Thankfully, paramedics were
10:17on the scene for one rider who hurt his ankle. Injuries are a constant risk for Speedway racers,
10:23some of whom are as young as 15, while the oldest on the track, last friendly, was aged 60.
10:29The dirt track of the Eyewade Speedway is tucked in marshland just north of the village of Eyewade,
10:34which has hosted Speedway races since the sports prime in the 1970s. The Kings pulled out from the
10:40National Development League, entering the No Brakes Racing League earlier this year,
10:44changing their name back from Kent Royals. Yes, we're not in the league this year because
10:50the chap that was running it last year, Si Kello, had to pull out through health reasons. He's got
10:56a bad heart and we wish him well. I took over late in the day once all the league structures
11:01had been finalised. So we're running a series of non-league challenge matches this year
11:06in preparation for another crack at it next season. The season runs from March to October.
11:13Down here in Eyewade, we don't predominantly use March because it's very wet.
11:17And the name of this place is Marsh Bank Farm and the clue is marsh, so it gets very wet and
11:22very boggy. While some might look at Speedway and think it's just a bunch of leather-clad bikers,
11:27the sport is enjoyed by the elderly and families of all ages. July 7th, fans can see the Kings
11:34face off against the Isle of Wight Warriors, who are tipped to be a strong squad. Finn McDermott
11:38for KMTV. Well, it's time for a short break now, but do stick around as just afterwards we'll be
11:44talking cricket and looking back at some of Kent's T20 action from the weekend. See you in a few
11:49moments. Bye-bye.
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15:14Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight, live on KMTV to Cricket Now. Kent Spitfires were looking
15:19to turn the tide on Friday night after facing four successive defeats in the T20 blast.
15:25Long-time rivals Essex made the journey to Canterbury for yet another battle of the bridge,
15:30with Matt Walker naming an unchanged 14-strong squad from their Thursday defeat to Sussex Sharks
15:35in Hove. Here's how it all went down. As a bumper crowd hacked into the Spitfire grounds,
15:44Canterbury watched on with fingers crossed for a change in fate for Kent,
15:48ending a win over Essex to avoid five successive defeats in the T20 blast.
15:54Forced about first, the county opener Zach Crawley stepped up to get things off the mark,
15:58hoping to turn over what has been a less-than-optimal run of form for himself recently.
16:03Racking up a score of runs after saying goodbye to partner Daniel Beltrumman for ten,
16:08the homegrown batsman was sent walking when Essex's Ben Allison narrowly prevented a six
16:12with a quick-thinking flick into the air. T20 captain Sam Billings was Kent's top scorer,
16:18stepping up to the crease to replace Tawunda Mawaiye. After getting into gear fairly quickly,
16:24just two weeks after scoring his own premier century, brought the hosts up to a ton in the
16:29twelfth over, shortly before his partner Joey Everson went for seven off a poor Walter delivery.
16:35As Harry Finch and Xavier Bartlett wrapped things up for Kent with their own partnership of 30 runs,
16:40Kent's innings ended 156 for seven wickets.
16:45Essex's reply was just eight balls out when play was halted for the positioning of the sun being
16:50in the batsman's eyes. When play quickly got back underway, the Spitfires made the breakthrough
16:56with Adam Rossington slapping Bartlett to Nathan Gilchrist at mid-off for four in the second over.
17:03Unfortunately, as the innings went on, it seemed the target set just wasn't high enough to claim
17:08a win. Michael Pepper scored the visitors' highest, reaching 76 off 42 balls, before
17:15finding himself dismissed with just five runs needed for an Essex win in the fourteenth over.
17:21Those remaining runs came without a reply from Kent, as the Battle of the Bridge was won by those
17:26who had to take the victory back over it. Essex won by six wickets.
17:31Yeah, just not enough. No one, including myself, going on to get a 70-plus score.
17:36And then other guys, you know, we've just got to be better. We're finding ways to get out,
17:40which happens when you're in kind of a rut. But yeah, just little signs, but without a big
17:48contribution. The result leaves Kent Spitfires second from the bottom in the south table,
17:53with a seemingly welcome return to four-day cricket this week. As for the T20 blast,
17:58well, play will resume on the 5th of July, away to Gloucestershire.
18:05And don't forget, there's another episode of Invicta Sport coming right up after Kent tonight,
18:09where we'll be joined by our reporter Jack Darkin for the latest news from Kent's county
18:13championship match today, and a boxing club which are taking on their own European summer
18:18adventure. Now, don't forget, you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by
18:22logging on to our website, kmtv.co.uk, where you'll find all of our reports, including this one
18:28about the reopening of a swimming pool in Raynham.
18:32The finishing touches to Medway's new multi-million pound leisure centre. It's
18:37replacing the well-loved Splashes, which had to be demolished following structural faults.
18:43It might be renamed to Cosenton Park, but the council says the new facility still contains
18:48plenty of frills and splashes, with slides and this wave machine.
18:54And the authority says they've taken the opportunity to improve accessibility.
18:58I think building a brand new state-of-the-art facility gives us the opportunity to get it
19:02exactly right. So, making sure that it's fully accessible with the two lifts into the two pools
19:08and the changing places room as well. We've had every opportunity to do that,
19:12and we've taken that, and of course, making it sustainable.
19:15A 25-metre pool and modern gym equipment will be available to members.
19:20And this pool should also be more efficient to run, with the water being heated by the
19:24solar panels on the roof. But to use this facility, it will cost more than ÂŁ450 a year.
19:30The Conservative group who decided to rebuild the centre say it's not affordable to the public.
19:36I just hope it gets open soon, and I do hope that it continues to get used. I have a concern that
19:42if the prices are so high, people will stop going and it won't get used, and everybody will point
19:48and say it was a wrong decision, which I don't think it is. It has to be priced correctly to
19:53make sure that people use it. The council are keen to remind the
19:55public there are a range of options available for memberships.
19:59We think the ÂŁ40 a month premium membership does offer good value,
20:03but of course, we also offer free sports for families. A Better Medway programme, for example,
20:10is a good opportunity for families to use who might not want to be able to take up
20:15premium membership. For more than four years,
20:18Rainier residents have been without their pool, and there have been a number of twists and turns
20:22along that journey. But the official opening is now next month, and Medway Council hopes
20:28that will make a splash with locals.
20:34Now, let's take a quick look at the weather.
20:41Tonight, temperatures cooling down to 15, highs of 17 in the Dartford and Chatham areas.
20:48Tomorrow morning, that sun we were mentioning earlier is finally arriving, rising to 23 and 22
20:53across the county, then getting very much warmer, up to 26 in the north of the county.
21:00Here's your outlook then for the rest of the week, and it just keeps coming.
21:03That sun doesn't leave us at all. Highs of 27 on Thursday.
21:17And finally this evening, a group of opticians from Kent have set their sights on climbing
21:22Mount Snowdon, all to raise money for West Kent Disability Charity, the 3H Foundation.
21:27The team make up four Specsaver stores in Tunbridge Wells, Tunbridge, Swanley and
21:31Crayford. With a combined ÂŁ1,700 raised already and just a few days to go, the team are urging
21:37as many people as possible to back the communities they serve on a daily basis.
21:41And I'm pleased to say I'm joined by two of them now. Samantha and Ian,
21:44thank you very much for being here and welcome onto the programme.
21:47First of all, how are you feeling? Not too long to go now.
21:50No, so we climb on Friday. We're quite excited. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's not something that
21:54I would want to take on. When this was kind of proposed to you, when you came up with the idea,
21:58what was the initial thoughts? Yeah, good idea. Thought it might be a good
22:02idea in terms of for, I suppose, like a bit of a team challenge and a chance to raise some serious
22:07money for charity rather than just the normal stuff we do in store. And it came from just one
22:12of our careers events, wasn't it? So yeah, it should be fun.
22:14Have either of you ever taken on an expedition like this before?
22:19No. No, nothing like it at all. OK.
22:21None of us have. Actually, no, one has. One of them has. Yeah,
22:25Christy from Tambridge has done it. Oh, she's done Snowdon before. OK,
22:28so at least you've got like a guide amongst the team. You mentioned there about you all
22:31working together. Are there any transferable skills that you can take from being opticians to
22:37climbing Mount Snowdon? I suppose team working is something that you do every day.
22:41That's probably about it, I reckon. Communication, I think.
22:44Communication, right, OK. Yeah, you can talk a lot, Sam, can't you?
22:46So yeah, we'll be fine. And it must mean that you get along as well with each other. I know
22:51some people wouldn't dream of climbing up a mountain with the people they work with.
22:54Yeah, all our stores get along together pretty well.
22:57Yeah, that's great. And of course, a big part of this is raising money for the charities. Why
23:01the 3H Foundation? Sam got in touch with them probably about 18
23:06months ago and we've done various different, I suppose, smaller scale things for them. We just
23:10thought, could we do something a bit bigger that could raise a bit more money? So the 3H Foundation
23:15are great for supporting families with children with disabilities and just thought that was ideal
23:20for a fairly unknown charity within West Kent. And of course, being a West Kent charity,
23:27you guys all work in West Kent, it must mean a lot to be able to give back to the community.
23:31Yeah, our four stores do give back to the community and they're the community that we serve
23:37and both charities are both part of that community. And a good chunk of money raised already. I had a
23:43look on some of your GoFundMe pages, up to 1,700 at the moment, just about. Have you got a goal
23:48before Friday? We'd like to get to 3,000. But I reckon if we can hit 2,000 by the time we go to
23:53climb it, I think we'll be in a fairly good place then. So it's a bit unheard of. We've tried lots
23:58of different things in store to try and raise money through it as well.
24:02I mean, you must be letting people know as they're coming in at the moment, what's it been like
24:06talking to people about this? I think there's a bit of a buzz in the store. I think people
24:10are now getting excited. Now it's the week. Everyone's talking about it a bit more. Nerves
24:13might be starting to creep in a little bit, but I think because people that are climbing are in
24:17stores, they're talking about it and being proactive and the community are soaking it in.
24:22Well, I was wondering about the preparation then, because I was told, Ian, that you've done a dummy
24:26run of this, but you didn't actually complete the dummy run. So tell me that story.
24:32Somebody dropped me right in there. So my family and their boyfriends, we decided the other week
24:38to go to North Wales and attempted it. I'm not very good at heights, I'll be totally honest.
24:42That's where I got about 85% of the way. But I'm so determined this time, there's no way I'm going
24:47to... My two dogs got up there. My youngest daughter, in fact, all my daughters got up
24:52there. So there's no way I'm going to turn down from it this time.
24:55But it is difficult though, isn't it? I mean, it's not an easy challenge that you're taking
24:58yourself on. And we were talking before, the weather could be one of the things that sets
25:02you back. How are you preparing for what could happen?
25:05I think we're preparing for the worst. We're preparing for rain, waterproofs,
25:09waterproof trousers, but we're hoping that we might have just missed the rain now and it might
25:13be raining the day before. That's a good question, actually.
25:17If I was going to go, I would take one item with me, something to remind me of being back at
25:23ground level. What's your kind of item that you're packing with you?
25:27I'm taking my walking poles, I'll be honest. Just to make sure I can get back down because
25:32the knees are a bit dodgy. I guess water bottle. Stay hydrated.
25:36Yeah, absolutely. Very important. Now, have you got plans for what will happen
25:41when you get to the top? Obviously, lots of pictures and then celebrations from then on,
25:45I suppose. Or then you've got to make it back down again.
25:48We'll end up rolling down, I think. We've got t-shirts and some flags and stuff,
25:52so we'll celebrate when we get there. Hope to take some pictures and share with
25:55the other stores so they can report back to the communities.
25:58Absolutely. And of course, when you get back, lots of celebrations as well. Well, best of
26:01luck and hopefully you make it and you enjoy yourselves as well.
26:05Thank you. Brilliant. Thank you very much for that.
26:08Now, you've been watching Kentonite Live on KMTV. There's plenty more news made for Kent just
26:12throughout this evening, starting, of course, after the break with another episode of Invicta
26:16Sport. Don't forget, you can keep up to date with all the latest news across your county by logging
26:20on to our website, kmtv.co.uk, where you can watch back all of our programmes on demand.
26:26You can also keep us on your social timelines by liking us on Facebook and following us
26:30on X. Just search at KMTV Kent. And of course, if you have a story you think we should be covering,
26:36just do get in touch. Thank you very much for watching. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye.
27:00Bye.