Catch up with all the latest news across your county with Abby Hook.
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00:00Hello, good evening and welcome to Kent Tonight live on KMTV.
00:28I'm Abbey Hook, here are your top stories on Thursday the 19th of September.
00:33Threat to life. Huge emergency response to home explosion near Ashford.
00:39Hit hard by high prices. Kent pubs say they could go under if beer duty increases.
00:46The thing has going up bills all the time. It's getting harder and harder for us to sort of try and make a living.
00:50Swamped with rubbish. Canterbury litter pickers find 20 bags of waste in Kent's longest river.
00:57I think just encouraging people to respect our natural environment, to respect it, to enjoy it and to celebrate it as well.
01:05And aye aye captain, on National Talk Like a Pirate Day, we take a look at Kent's own history of eyepatch smugglers.
01:14First tonight, a person has been rushed to hospital after a home explosion in Charing near Ashford.
01:32The bungalow fire on Canterbury Road has prompted a huge emergency response with people in the surrounding area being evacuated.
01:40Oliver Leader de Sacks sent us this report.
01:43As you can see, the A252 Canterbury Road is still closed off and you're still seeing a heavy police presence here.
01:51Four fire engines were called to the scene along here earlier today following a bungalow explosion and fire,
01:59with one woman being taken to hospital. Ambulance crews have attended the scene as well.
02:06KMTV have spoken to one of the neighbours along here and he says he's never seen anything quite like it.
02:13I'm working from home today and I came home between customer appointments, round about quarter to twelve just quickly popped in the house
02:21and around about quarter to twelve there was a very, very large explosive bang.
02:27We looked into the distance over the top of the trees and there was quite a large black plume of smoke.
02:34Didn't see anything other than that.
02:37Earlier today, residents were evacuated from the area and we spoke to Kent Fire and Rescue who say they're still investigating to see what exactly happened.
02:48The house has fully collapsed. Whilst crews were on scene, the family dog did walk from the rubble and go to our crews, who is now in care of a local vet.
02:58The cause of the explosion is not yet known. That will be investigated throughout the evening with our colleagues in Kent Police and our fire investigation team, who will also support that investigation.
03:06For the time being, traffic is being disrupted between Charing and Canterbury and we'll bring you more details on this story when we have them.
03:17Next this evening, pub and bar bosses in the county fear jobs will be at risk if the government doesn't support them at the next budget.
03:26The Tudor Rose in Rochester says costs not only drive customers away, but beer duty is making it harder for businesses to make a living.
03:35Now the industry is urging the government to cut down high prices.
03:39Mahima Abedin has been speaking to local venues to find out how it's affecting them.
03:44A pub garden. It's a staple in English culture and where many in the county go to socialise.
03:50But the Tudor Rose in Rochester says it's being hit with soaring costs such as beer duty.
03:56Making it difficult to keep businesses running and is driving customers away.
04:00We've got the highest beer duty in Europe, probably the world, so cut the beer duty.
04:05And with everything else going up bills all the time, it's getting harder and harder for us to sort of try and make a living because, you know, you've got to pay your wages and everything, energy and stuff.
04:13So, yeah, that's the hardest part.
04:15With more than a million people working in the industry, bosses fear that these high costs could lead to thousands of jobs being lost.
04:23Now it's calling for the government to protect the brewing and pub sector by asking for a 5% cut in beer duty, which would not only reduce costs for businesses, but also for those that are going for a drink.
04:34There's no denying the government has been great to support pubs when they were going through a once in a generation pandemic.
04:40But since then, things have still been challenging.
04:44We still have high energy costs, high inflation, you know, labour shortages.
04:48So there are so many things that continue and the government is going to have to make really tough choices in the budget.
04:53But what we're hoping to impress on them and on the general public is the role that pubs play and how important it is for communities and how sad it would be to see them close.
05:03Although some from the hospitality industry say that the government's actually been quite supportive, especially during Covid times, others say that the price of a pint is creating an uncertain future for both bars and pubs.
05:17After the government increased alcohol duty in their last budget, the hospitality industry contracted by about 12%, suggesting that people were really starting to feel the pinch.
05:29And of course, if the industry is contracting, then it probably does put jobs at risk.
05:36The future is always uncertain.
05:38And whenever there's a bit of uncertainty about what taxes or regulations in particular are going to look like in the future, it means it's much harder to invest and it's harder to hire more people.
05:49But in a statement from the government, a Treasury spokesperson said that growth remains its national mission, and that's why it's cutting corporation tax and making business rate systems fairer.
05:59They also said difficult decisions are having to be made to address the £22bn hole the government has inherited.
06:06But for now, pubs and bars are having to stick with the costs until the next budget in October, where they hope they'll receive the support they want.
06:14Mahima Abedin for KMTV in Medway.
06:17Next tonight, one of the three original shops in Bluewater is going to shut its doors before Christmas.
06:25The shopping centre, Centre's House of Fraser, opened 25 years ago and occupies one of the large corner units that's on several floors.
06:33It's set to close in November and the department store offering 20% discounts to clear out their stock.
06:38It's also strongly rumoured that clothing giant Next will take over the store, despite already having another location in Bluewater.
06:44It's not the only shop that faces closure, though, with TGI Friday's restaurant branch in Bluewater also at risk.
06:52Hundreds of homes have been left without water in Maidstone.
06:55Around 400 in the Hope Street and Fisher Street area had no water coming from their taps after two pipes burst.
07:02South East Water has apologised for the disruptions and say their team has delivered bottles of water to the houses affected.
07:09But some homes are still left without running water.
07:15Now, volunteers collected more than 20 bags of rubbish from the River Stour in Canterbury.
07:20It's part of the city's River Fest set up to celebrate the rare chalk stream.
07:25They're essential to maintaining local wildlife and as of recent, beavers have been spotted enjoying the well-known waterway.
07:32Our reporter Kristin Hawthorne was at the River Clean to see exactly what can be pulled from the mud.
07:37Traffic cones, wine bottles, trolleys and even a World War Two helmet.
07:43Just a few of the items found in Kent's longest river.
07:46Volunteers have been wading through the Great Stour as part of Canterbury's River Fest.
07:51Over 20 bags of rubbish were collected, but locals say litter all over the city is a common problem.
07:58Well, you've got so much rubbish in this river here. Bikes, shopping trolleys, so much rubbish dumped in grass, foliage.
08:09Yeah, I think it could be looked after a lot better from probably the council as well.
08:12I don't think they spend a lot of time on the outskirts of Cunnery. It's all spent on the inside.
08:17Yeah, so especially around the river I do see quite a lot of rubbish.
08:20But there's lots of bins, but I don't think they get emptied very often because they're always overflowing.
08:25We could perhaps help ourselves a little better. I mean, just behind you now, madam, there's a bag just laying there.
08:31There's bags there everywhere and it's like, this is a very important part of Canterbury.
08:35The River Stour is so important to us.
08:38These volunteers say the clean is important because of the wildlife that lives there.
08:42Earlier this year, a wild beaver was even spotted swimming in the river.
08:46We have beavers, as you probably well know, just living a bit further, well, both downstream from here and upstream from here.
08:54Very close. We want to make sure that those, it's the only city in the country where you can see beavers so easily.
09:02And we want those beavers to survive and thrive here on the River Stour.
09:08We're very proud of our River Stour. We're very proud of living in a place, as I say, with the Chalk Stream River.
09:15And we want it to be here and be better for generations to come.
09:21I've been in the river for just five minutes and I've already found this traffic cone, which has clearly been here for a while,
09:27as well as this wine bottle, which apparently lots of animals can get trapped in.
09:30Obviously, we all like to recycle and eat, you know, cleanly as much as we can, but we can actually get out and do some cleaning up.
09:37I think that's really, really beneficial for the community.
09:39And I think we don't even, we don't really notice it unless it's either really bad or it's really clean.
09:45And I wish we could just not notice it at all.
09:47After two hours, volunteers were only able to complete half of the stretch they'd planned as part of this year's river festival.
09:55This is because the sheer amount of litter that was found.
09:58They say that although the city is good at bringing tourists in, the message to take home is to put rubbish in the bin.
10:04Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV in Canterbury.
10:10Next tonight, the Blue Tongue restricted zone has been expanded to cover the whole of Kent and East Sussex.
10:16Initially set up to stop the spread of the virus in livestock, now 70 cases have been confirmed.
10:23The government have given the go ahead for three unauthorised Blue Tongue vaccines to be used within the UK.
10:30Blue Tongue can cause infertility and breathing problems in cattle, sheep, goats and deer and is transferred by midge bites.
10:36The virus does not affect people or food safety.
10:39And the restrictions mean that potentially vulnerable animals can't be moved out of the zone to things like abattoirs without a licence.
10:49Now, just before the break, let's take a look at the weather.
10:52Tonight, cloudy skies, cooler temperatures, highs of 18, lows of 16, staying dry overnight now and into tomorrow morning.
11:05Some of the clouds are remaining, slightly warmer, highs of 20 degrees in Dartford and Margate there.
11:11Into the afternoon, not a cloud in the sky, a bit of wind though, 20 degrees across most of Kent, 19 nearer the coast there.
11:19And here's your outlook for Kent, much of the same until some thunderstorms on Sunday.
11:33Now, it's time for a very short break, but when we come back, we'll hear more about the bear in Canterbury, Bocce, who's one of the first in the UK to get brain surgery.
11:43I met him two years ago at Portland when he first came to Kent.
11:46Let's see how he's getting on and to be the first bear to get this procedure in the UK.
11:51All that and more after this break.
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15:12Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight live on KMTV.
15:15Now, this is Bocce, he lives in Canterbury and he's the first brown bear to undergo brain surgery in the UK.
15:23He's been suffering from seizures since he was welcomed to Kent back in 2022 at Portland.
15:29at Portland Hotel and Reserve. Now rehomed at Wildwood Trust since April
15:34they've noticed some issues. Experts say the surgery is Bocci's best chance of
15:39survival but what does that mean for his future? Earlier I spoke to Head of Bears
15:43John at the Trust to find out more. How have the past two years been for him? Has
15:48he been having these seizures even back then? No, so he was very very healthy when
15:55he came to us. It's only since around about April of this year that he's just
16:00been suffering from seizures so we don't think they're full seizures but they
16:05cause him quite a bit of shaking at the time but he's had a really good time with
16:09us up until that point. And he's the first one in the UK receiving this brain
16:14surgery. Why is that? It hasn't been done before for a reason we can guess. How
16:20dangerous is it? So it's the same as with any surgery like it does it does carry
16:27some risks but we wouldn't do it if we thought it you know if it would only
16:30have a bad outcome. So it's very rare for this condition it's called
16:36hydrocephalus it's very rare to find this in bears. We only know of one case
16:40in history where it's been discovered and that was in Southeast Asia and we've
16:45also been lucky enough to get the vet who performed this operation on that
16:50bear to actually come here to Wildwood and he's going to do the same operation
16:53for Bocce. Yeah I think he was actually the product of bears that were rescued
16:57and one of them was actually pregnant but the keepers at Portland didn't know
17:01until they had the surprise of Bocce but now of course at Wildwood with you there.
17:07But there will be questions from people as there are with the animal parks Susan
17:11about human interference with the sort of wild world although he was born in
17:15captivity should he should he be operated on I suppose is the question.
17:20So this will give him the best chance at living a long and happy life and we have
17:28we've had obviously many discussions about what we only really want what's
17:31best for him and we believe that we we're lucky enough that fact that this
17:37surgery has happened once before on another bear in Asia so we do have some
17:43background info and that bear went on to live for many years and live quite
17:46happy life. What will his life look like after how long will the rehabilitation
17:50process take for him to go back to sort of normal bear life I suppose. So you'd
17:57actually you'd be quite surprised if you come and see him he doesn't actually he
18:02doesn't give off that he's suffering that much he's still literally every day
18:05he still swims he still we have a huge oak tree at the bottom of his pallet he
18:09still climbs right to the very top of the tree he still plays still he does
18:12everything he normally does he's just been a bit lacking in energy
18:16unfortunately from from what he's suffering from. The rehabilitation
18:20process or everything you're putting into this how much is this going to cost
18:25the trust? So this is actually the amazing bit so Romain the veterinarian
18:32who's who had done this before and has agreed to come and do it for Bocci he's
18:35actually waived his entire fee so he's doing it completely for free which is
18:40absolutely amazing and it just shows you it shows you how much this animal is
18:43loved and how much people care for him. Now don't forget you can keep up to date
18:47with all your latest stories across Kent by logging on to our websites
18:51kmtv.co.uk there you'll find all our reports including this one about Kent's
18:55micro celebrities hoping to make a living online after Cristiano Ronaldo
19:00reached 1 billion followers on social media.
19:03Alessio Russo 863,000 Orlando Bloom 7.1 million these are just two of Kent's
19:12celebrities who haven't found it hard to gain a following online thanks to their
19:16stardom Cristiano Ronaldo has long been hailed as one of the most successful
19:20footballers but now can be labeled as one of the most successful influencers
19:24too after he reached a billion followers across all his social media pages that's
19:30more than 500 times the population of Kent. Even after scoring 900 goals and
19:36taking home 33 trophies Cristiano Ronaldo is clearly still ready to make some
19:41career records even in the online space it's hard to imagine what a billion
19:45followers really looks like but perhaps not so surprising as with the continued
19:49rise of platforms like tik-tok and even new ones like threads the role of the
19:54social media influencer is becoming ever more common and there's even a fair few
19:58that have been popping up here in Kent
20:06you might not have heard of Dover's Aaron Kraskal but he's been making
20:10people laugh online for more than a decade with a combined follower tally of
20:143 million whilst Aaron calls himself an idiot with a camera other online
20:19celebrities like Tasha Newcombe from Chatham take the lifestyle approach
20:23showing off their lavish routines and promoting brand products for a profit to
20:28her almost 60,000 Instagram fans so it's clear to see why the influencer life
20:34might be appealing and the data proves it with 17% of young people choosing it
20:39as their dream career hey guys my name is Joy I'm an entertainment social video
20:44journalist I think kids and young people are inspired by what they see like when
20:48I was younger I would look at TV presenters and think oh my god I want to
20:52be like that and influencers are now part of the people who young people are
20:56exposed to so I think it looks nice I guess to be an influencer granted a lot
21:01of it can be fake you know I did she was revealed this week that these LA
21:06influencers who have these nice apartments they are renting a space like
21:10that's not their house like they've rented that space I think for social
21:13media like from what we see it does make it look super attractive and it's not
21:17just individuals becoming more popular online social media itself has this week
21:21overtaken television for the first time as the number one place to keep up to
21:26date with news here in the UK so next time you're online why not give us a
21:30follow for all the latest Bartholomew Hall for KMTV and finally this evening
21:37you might not know this but Jack Sparrow was inspired by a pirate from Fabersham
21:41or that Sheppey means Isle of Sheep because of wolf smuggling in the 16th
21:46century well it's national speak like a pirate day so our reporter Finn McDermott
21:51has been getting people to show us their best let's try out mine
21:56or walk the plank. Well since it's National Speak Like a Pirate Day I came down to
22:02Chatham Dockside to see if Kent is still a hub for seafaring scavengers well even
22:08though I now know quite a bit about pirates I still don't look or sound like
22:13one being from Surrey well I think it's time to change that
22:18Well, let's see if we can teach these landlubbers some Sea Speak.
22:25Go! Arrrrrr!
22:28One, two, three, Arrrrrrr!
22:32Um, ok. Arrrrr!
22:36Well, now that everyone's shown me their best, I suppose I'd better have a go as well.
22:43You're a scurvy knave if you don't watch KMTV on Channel 7.
22:48Okay, well Finn's travelled the seas and he's here with us in the studio and of course our
22:55Kent Film Club presenter, another episode of Thursday.
22:58And clearly underdressed.
22:59Underdressed, yeah, you didn't quite get the memo. Finn got lucky with a quite fun report
23:04today. Finn, tell us about Kent's pirates then, other than yourself.
23:09Oh, well, Kent's always had an interesting connection to pirates. I mean, Jack Sparrow
23:14from obviously Pirates of the Caribbean, he was inspired by Jack Ward, who was a privateer
23:19born in Falmouthshire, which is basically just an employed pirate. And he plundered
23:22Spanish ships with a licence from Queen Elizabeth. So Kent's got this real great connection.
23:26And like one of the most hated pirates ever called Eustace the Monk was beheaded off the
23:31coast of Sandwich. So it's really interesting.
23:33There's actually some connection there. I'm surprised you can read your notes with an
23:36iPad as well.
23:37I'm doing my best.
23:38Yeah, you're doing a good job. Chris, tell us, pirate films. We always think Pirates
23:42of the Caribbean. I mean, there's got to be some sort of joke here. Captain Hook with
23:47my surname, surely?
23:48Well, well, shiver my timbers, Abby. I mean, of course, one of the entries in the Pirates
23:53film was filmed in Noel Park. That was on Stranger Tides. But if we go back even further
23:58in the 80s, Roman Polanski's Pirates, it was a box office bomb, did get one Oscar nomination.
24:05And also, it's very hard to have a serious conversation with a real pirate next to me
24:09And also, Cutthroat Island with Geena Davis in 1994. So there are a lot of these films
24:16that have cropped up. And of course, it's legendary. And if you go to the West Country,
24:21you know, sort of think of shipwreck and you think of Treasure Island. You know, they're
24:26residents in all of these motifs. So it's national talk to a pirate day. And he's the
24:30embodiment.
24:31You really are, Finn, sitting there very seriously embodying a pirate. We were discussing in
24:35the newsroom, some films that some people might consider pirate films, some people
24:40wouldn't. There are a few you mentioned, Finn.
24:41Yes, so I've taken great care because we're before the watershed. I'm not talking about
24:45any R-rated films.
24:47Oh, he said it. He said it on TV.
24:50So you mentioned Treasure Island. A personal favourite of mine is The Muppets' Treasure
24:53Island. I'm a big Muppets fan. And I've got strong memories of growing up watching these
24:57films. And it's just a child actor next to a Muppet. And you can see Kermit there in
25:01all his pirate gear. I mean, look at that. That's brilliant.
25:04That's one for you as well, Chris. Nostalgia. Something that always comes up.
25:08It is because, of course, The Muppets had their take on Christmas and, of course, now
25:11yeah, Treasure Island. So it's a wonderful way of teaching younger people particularly
25:15about these classic tales.
25:17So are there more messages within pirate films as well? Hook, people say, is that a pirate
25:23film? But it's actually about Peter Pan. And from how you dress, Finn, I don't think you
25:26ever want to grow up.
25:27Yep.
25:28But it's the villain is the way in, isn't it? I mean, that's the history of cinema.
25:34Who do we identify with? And so the Captain Hook and, of course, Dustin Hoffman as well.
25:37Oscar winning actor playing the role of the baddie is the villain. Then it's a wonderful
25:41trope to draw on.
25:42Okay. As it is Talk Like a Pirate Day, we've had a bit of... There, Finn. Chris, give us
25:48your best pirate impression.
25:49Oh, no. Shove him in timbers, Abby. And well, let's walk the plank. And ahoy!
25:54This is... What's gone on today? This is brilliant.
25:58I couldn't tell you.
25:59That's free for the price of zero.
26:00Yes, yes. Finn, how's the eye patch? Itchy?
26:04It's all right. It's a bit sweaty down here. But yeah. And I can't see Chris, so if he
26:08leaves, I won't know.
26:09Aye, aye.
26:10I'm lost for words. Chris, thank you very much. Of course, a brand new episode. Please,
26:19never again, I'm thinking. I think back to your reporter. There we go. The hat's off.
26:23Yeah. We'll make him walk the plank at the end of this. Right. The jokes need to stop
26:26there. Now, the brand new episode of Kent Film Club coming up after the break. Who have
26:30you got on very quickly?
26:31Yeah. So, it's actually a repeat episode tonight, but we'll be back in the fall next week with
26:36a brand new episode of Kent Film Club.
26:38Very exciting, Chris. Thank you very much. So, we've got time for everybody. A final
26:42arrr!
26:43Arrr!
26:44Goodnight!
26:45Goodnight!
26:46Goodnight!