Dan Wright

A 37-year-old man from Willesborough in Ashford was arrested on suspicion of drug-driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving after a white Mercedes Vito mounted the pavement on East Street in Rye. The collision seriously injured two pedestrians, including a woman who suffered potentially life-changing injuries, and heavily damaged the Ethel Loves Me shopfront. The suspect was released on bail pending further enquiries, while Sussex Police are seeking witnesses and CCTV, dashcam or mobile-phone footage.

Rod Birley won the opening Track Action Racing Club race at Brands Hatch’s Touring Car Rewind South despite making poor starts from pole, then finished second in the next race after a misfire allowed Marshall Groves to win by 0.281 seconds. The 71-year-old West Kingsdown driver nevertheless won his Deutsche Marques Cup class, taking his career tally to 771 victories. Jason Hughes and Robert Whelan shared the Super Tourers wins, while the event also featured numerous classic and modern saloon-car championships, including several local drivers and a crash that heavily damaged Byron Aldous’s Honda Civic.

Ashford Borough Council has released updated designs for a small-scale theatre in the town’s former Odeon cinema and Mecca Bingo hall. The £7.5 million project would include a flexible auditorium for up to 212 people standing, a gallery, café, bar and a restored ballroom for community activities. Strip-out and asbestos-removal work is under way, with a planning application expected in September and an operator sought by early 2027. The building’s rear auditorium is excluded from the current scheme but is being made usable for possible future development.

Police arrested a man after roof tiles were damaged and fell into the road on Taylors Hill in Chilham. Emergency services responded to reports of a disturbance, with fire crews assisting police as debris was cleared and the area remained closed.

Rod Birley won Class B in both Special Saloons and Modsports races at Brands Hatch, driving West Suffolk Racing’s plain-white, largely standard BMW E36. Despite its heavy steel construction and road-style features, the car finished fifth and sixth overall against lighter specialist machines. The victories took Birley’s career tally to 767, including 303 at Brands Hatch. His Ford Escort Cosworth WRC suffered oil-pump and oil-pressure problems at Mallory Park, but he hopes to repair it for the next Super Saloons round at Lydden Hill. Other Brands Hatch winners included teenager Thomas Merritt in the Puma Cup and Lotus Elan drivers Rob Fenn and Paul Whight in the Ecurie Classic K race.

Tom Ovenden recovered from exclusion in qualifying for an administrative tyre-nomination error to win the reversed-grid second Mini Challenge JCW race at Brands Hatch. The Excelr8 Motorsport driver made a bold final-lap pass on team-mate Olivier Algieri at Paddock Hill Bend, while also climbing from 19th to sixth in race one and ninth in the wet final race. Despite taking his fourth victory of the season, Ovenden’s championship lead fell from 47 points to 11 after Max Edmundson won two races. The next round takes place at Snetterton on May 23–24.

Valentino Rossi and Max Hesse finished fourth in the second GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup race at Brands Hatch, narrowly missing the podium in their BMW M4 GT3 Evo. They were classified 16th in race one after a 30-second retrospective penalty for a yellow-flag infringement. Ferrari won the opening race after Mercedes-AMG crews were penalised, while Porsche took race two. The event attracted 23,257 spectators, many supporting Rossi, and Brands Hatch will remain on the Sprint Cup calendar through at least 2028 under a new agreement between MotorSport Vision and SRO Motorsports Group.

Valentino Rossi is set to return to Brands Hatch for the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, driving a BMW M4 GT3 Evo with Max Hesse in two one-hour races. The nine-time MotoGP champion previously achieved a podium at the Kent circuit and missed last year's event due to his World Endurance Championship commitments. The 34-car grid will feature eight manufacturers, with drivers including Arthur Leclerc and Aurélien Panis. The meeting is a highlight of Brands Hatch's centenary celebrations, while thousands of spectators are expected to attend.

Tenterden-based Mini racer Nick Swift believes he can challenge for victory in next year’s Win Percy Trophy after a strong Goodwood Members’ Meeting. Team-mate Alex Buncombe took an unexpected pole and finished third on Saturday, while Swift showed strong pace before retiring from the second race with an overheating engine. Revised geometry has improved the Mini 1275 GT’s cornering speed despite its significant power disadvantage against Ford Escort RS2000s. Dave Devine and Rob Huff won the trophy overall, while Swiftune Engineering is also launching a new pre-1966 Mini racing series.

A fire severely damaged the long-abandoned 19th-century Swanton House beside Ashford College, and Ashford Borough Council plans to begin demolishing the building this week. The council had already approved redevelopment through its property company, A Better Choice for Development Property Ltd, with two blocks containing 34 flats, and says the fire-related work will not delay the wider project. Historian Steve Salter criticized the loss of the building’s heritage, while the council said public safety was its priority and confirmed that no one was injured. The redevelopment, delayed by nutrient-neutrality requirements linked to pollution in the Stodmarsh Nature Reserve, is expected to finish around the end of summer 2027.

Ashford Borough Council plans to demolish the fire-damaged, 19th-century Swanton House next week after a blaze took more than 12 hours to extinguish. The site is approved for two blocks containing 34 flats, with 27 parking spaces, most equipped with electric-vehicle charging points. The redevelopment had been delayed by nutrient-neutrality requirements linked to pollution in the Stour catchment and Stodmarsh Nature Reserve, but the council says water-use reductions at other properties have provided the necessary credits. Completion is expected around the end of summer 2027, and the building’s history as a First World War auxiliary hospital will be commemorated with a plaque.

Ashford Borough Council is developing plans to replace Matches Sports Bar at Elwick Place with a family-oriented entertainment hub featuring bowling, mini-golf, an arcade, dining and events. The council is reportedly considering spending about £900,000 to buy back the bar's lease and £2.4 million refurbishing the cinema units, while negotiating a long-term lease with a prospective operator. Campaigners criticize the use of public money and the lack of consultation, particularly as the council is also demolishing Park Mall. The council says the proposal would support The Ashford Cinema and revitalize the town centre, but no final deal has been signed.

Kent’s 2026 motorsport calendar will feature Brands Hatch’s centenary celebrations, including the London Historic Trophy and Formula 1 historic cars, alongside Valentino Rossi’s GT World Challenge Europe return. Lydden Hill will host major British Rallycross Championship events, the second Lydden Legend Festival featuring Andrew Jordan, and a rare one-day circuit-racing meeting. Other highlights include Tom Ovenden’s Mini Challenge title defence, a 50th-anniversary rallycross programme, Swiftune Engineering’s new pre-1966 Mini series, and Jake Hill’s move into international sportscar racing.

A man suffered serious facial injuries after a ladder fell from a lorry on A259 Churchill Avenue in Folkestone at about noon on February 26, 2026. Police closed the road in both directions while the injured man was taken to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford. The closure caused significant delays, particularly around Park Farm Industrial Estate, before the road reopened at about 1pm.

Ollie Ovenden, a 33-year-old construction worker from Littlebourne, died by suicide five years after his older brother Matthew was killed in a chainsaw accident. His parents described him as a much-loved son, partner and father who had battled mental-health problems. More than £5,000 was raised to support his fiancée Lucy and daughter Maisie, while Ovenden Group, where he worked, paid tribute and pledged support for SOS Silence of Suicide. Ollie was also remembered for his involvement in the family’s Ovenden Motorsport team and the Ford Escort Mk1 RSR racing car.

East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust says chief executive Tracey Fletcher is taking a period of unplanned leave and has not left the organisation. Chief medical officer Dr Des Holden is acting as CEO. The leadership change comes as the trust faces intense operational pressure, including record flu levels, bed shortages, corridor care and the use of a former Costa Coffee shop as an emergency ward. The trust has also faced criticism over overcrowded emergency departments, staff shortages and historic maternity failures, although inspectors reported significant improvements in two maternity units. East Kent Hospitals is among 14 English trusts included in a national investigation into maternity and neonatal failures.

Asda has begun rerendering and improving the derelict former Store Twenty One building in Bouverie Place, Folkestone, after Folkestone and Hythe District Council prosecuted the company for failing to comply with a 2023 improvement notice. Asda pleaded guilty and was fined £650, ordered to pay £1,950 in legal costs and a £260 surcharge. The building had been vacant since 2016 and suffered vandalism, graffiti and disrepair. The New Folkestone Society welcomed the work but urged Asda to respect the building’s historic character. Asda says it is continuing to explore long-term options for the site, while the council says it does not yet know what those options are.

Tony Brise, a highly regarded Bexley-born racing driver, was killed alongside Graham Hill and four others when Hill's aircraft crashed in fog near Elstree on November 29, 1975. Brise had won major junior championships, impressed in his brief Formula 1 appearances and was set to lead Embassy Hill Racing in 1976. Family members, friends and former colleagues believe his talent and work ethic could have taken him to a world championship, potentially with a major team, but the crash ended both his career and Hill's team before its new GH2 car could race.

A collision involving a coach and two cars blocked the A20 near the Bockham Lane turn-off close to Junction 10a of the M20 near Ashford. Congestion formed in both directions, with queues reaching the Mersham junction and Tesco Crooksfoot. Police attended at 8:30 a.m. to manage traffic while vehicle recovery was arranged; no injuries were reported.

Jason Smyth won the 50th Formula Ford Festival held at Brands Hatch, leading the 25-lap grand final from start to finish in a Team Dolan Van Diemen. The 19-year-old Irish-Filipino driver defeated Jordan Dempsey by two seconds, with teammate and two-time winner Niall Murray third, creating an all-Irish podium. Smyth became the first second-generation Festival winner, 15 years after his father Neville won the Kent class. The meeting also featured supporting races, including victories for Rod Birley and strong performances from local Kent drivers. The next Brands Hatch edition is scheduled for October 24–25, 2026.

Peter Rainer, who died aged 99, was 15 when he and his father helped pull injured crew members from a German Heinkel He 111 bomber after it crash-landed in Kennington, Ashford, during the Blitz in May 1941. The bomber had taken part in a major raid on London before being attacked by Spitfire pilot Roger Boulding; its pilot, Richard Furthmann, later died from his injuries. Rainer later served overseas with the Army, remained closely connected to Kennington, and returned in 2021 for the unveiling of a commemorative plaque. He is survived by his wife Kathleen, daughter Vicky and two grandchildren.