Meridian Sittingbourne

The A2 High Street at Newington near in Kent is close din both directions after an accident between Callaways Lane and the A249 Maidstone Road / Chestnut Street / Bobbing Hill / Sheppey Way (Key Street Roundabout).

Kent Police say the road is likely to be closed through morning rush hour. They are advising motorists to leave early and plan their journeys.

Kent Police is appealing for witnesses to a fatal collision on the A249 near Sittingbourne. It happened just before 7pm last night.

A black coloured Citroën was travelling north towards Sittingbourne, when it collided with a lorry, parked in a layby.

The driver of the Citroën, a man aged in his 50s from Sittingbourne, was declared dead at the scene. His family have been informed.

A road closure was in place on the northbound carriageway between junction 5 of the M2 and the A2 until 12.15am while emergency services were at the scene of the incident.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to contact the Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 01622 798535 quoting number 008/17.

The London-bound M2 could be closed for much of the day after a lorry crashed through a barrier earlier this morning.

Emergency services were called to the scene of the collision, at Junction 5 for the A249, at 4.55am.

No other vehicles were involved and police said no injuries were reported.

The west-bound carriageway is closed and long delays have built up on the approach.

Traffic is being diverted off the M2 at the exit slip for Junction 5, around the Stockbury roundabout and back on at the entry slip towards London.

The Highways Agency hopes to re-open the carriageway soon after 2.00pm this afternoon.

Firefighters are at the scene of a fire at an industrial estate in Sittingbourne in Kent.

Crews found smoke coming from the roof of a large unit at Trinity Trading Estate. The property is used as a DIY warehouse. Firefighters are tackling the blaze using a covering jet and main jets. Police are also in attendance managing traffic around the site.

When the owner of the Three Tuns pub in Lower Halstow in north Kent was burgled, she decided to install CCTV cameras throughout the building. It wasn't long before the investment paid off.

The cameras captured the moment a burglar broke in - while staff and customers were downstairs.

Abigail Bracken's report includes an interview with pub manager Scott Lacey and landlady Carol Haines.

A man has been photographed clinging onto the back of a fire engine as it was driven through Sittingbourne in Kent just before 11 o'clock last night.

An eyewitness said the man, who appeared to be in his twenties, had jumped on near the High Street - and then back off as the vehicle approached the town's main fire station. The dangerous stunt, which could have caused an accident, was carried out in the dark, in moving traffic.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that the incident had happened while a crew was returning from a call out in the town centre. A spokesperson said the firefighters on the engine were unaware of the man's presence until they approached the fire station and he ran off.

An investigation is underway after a man was stabbed in Sittingbourne.

Police were called at 7.23pm this evening to a report of a disturbance in Woodberry Drive. A man in his 30s suffered an injury consistent with a stab wound to his lower back and was airlifted to a London hospital.

Officers are carrying out enquiries into the circumstances behind the incident.

There have been no arrests.

Two policeman have been injured in a serious road accident on the M2 in Kent this afternoon.

The motorway has been closed after the police car was involved in a crash with a lorry near Sittingbourne, between junctions 5 and 6 coastbound.

Queues approaching the closure have been more than four miles long.