Times
All the news that matters
The BIGGEST local paper and it’s still
FREE COPY
Local, National and International
OF TONBRIDGE
COPY
Page
COPY
Page
Page
w n’s ic Ne me Clin o 9 W lth ge 1 a a He p
Wednesday March 27 | 2019
COPY Page
Massive increase in Tasers as knife crime escalates POLICE plan to quadruple the number of officers carrying Tasers in the fight against knife crime and organised gangs. Violent incidents involving knives in Kent have increased at the fastest rate in the country, more than doubling over the last eight years from 346 to 873. The escalation is blamed on the rise in ‘county lines’ offending, where criminals from London and other major cities expand their drug-dealing networks to other areas of the country.
Business Networking with a difference...
Appalling
proposals for 12 librarires means that County Hall has fallen short of its savings target by £90,000. It intends to recoup this by making further cuts to non-staffing budgets. Ioannis Sklavenitis, who runs Thompson’s Pharmacy next door to Hildenborough library, started a petition which was signed by more than 220 local residents. “In my opinion it was crazy,” he said. “Lots of my customers raised concerns too, and we thought it was important to do something to change the situation. “KCC held a consultation at Tonbridge library and the majority of the people were from Hildenborough. “It shows the will of the people, that they were making the effort to go to that.”
Kent’s Chief Constable Alan Pughsley said: “Violent crime and assaults on officers are rising and we are dealing with a criminal element who think nothing of carrying – and using – the most appalling knives against each other, against people they wish to rob and victimise, and ultimately against those that stand between them and their victims: the police.” Currently, 330 officers in Kent are trained to use Tasers, which fire a pair of electrified probes to incapacitate suspects. That number is expected to increase to 1,500 as the force allocates £750,000 for additional training. The opt-in scheme will see any officer, including Specials or Probationers, able to be trained to carry the non-lethal weapon. Up to now, the force has trained teams to be armed with Tasers, and they will remain in place. Home Office figures show there were 1,112 assaults on police officers across Kent in 2017-18.
Continued on page 2
Continued on page 2
STARS OF THE SHOW: Astronauts Michael Foale (left) and Steve Swanson at Tonbridge School’s Mission Discovery week. See page 2
Meet Fortnightly No Pressure Friendly Groups Exclusive Sector Placing Create Quality Relationships and more at...
Business Over Breakfast (BoB) For more information please call
Trevor Smith on:-
01622 807920 07768 211900
Cuts to library hours are reduced but KCC will still claw back £90k By Andy Tong andy@timesoftonbridge.co.uk KENT COUNTY COUNCIL will go ahead with its plans to cut library hours – but has made changes to its initial proposals which benefit Hildenborough and, to a lesser extent, Tonbridge. Under the original plan, the town’s main library was slated to lose 18 hours a week – or a third of its opening time. It was designated as a second-tier library – ‘town’ rather than ‘town plus’ – but has been reclassified as Tier One. That means it will lose 13 hours, down from 55 hours a week to 42 rather than 37. Hildenborough, which under the new classification was to become Tier Five – the lowest level of service – was to have
its hours slashed from 23 to 15. But after a concerted campaign by the village, it will retain its full allocation. The three-year scheme across 99 Kent libraries – apart from Tunbridge Wells and Southborough, which are undergoing major development projects – is designed to save KCC £960,000 a year.
‘They don’t see anyone in the rest of the week, or have a place to meet’ All libraries are saved from closure – and Hadlow and East Peckham even have longer opening times, with an extra seven and five-and-a-half hours respectively. But the shortfall caused by the revised