News

Police have questioned a driver following a 43-vehicle pile up on the A20 in Kent in which a Folkestone man died.

The 34-year-old, from Hungary, was arrested on Monday (2 June) at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

He has been released on bail pending further inquiries.

Folkestone man Derek Bostock, 53, died at the scene of the crashes. Another 11 injured people were taken to hospital.

Dover District Council leader Paul Watkins, is demanding more safety measures for that stretch of the road and is also seeking a meeting with the transport minister.   

A man who died in a 43-vehicle pile-up has been named as 53-year-old Derek Bostock from Folkestone. His car was in collision with two lorries on the coast bound carriageway of the A20.

Police said today that a total of eleven people were taken to hospital with injuries.

The incident on Saturday (30 June) happened in what was described by police as "atrocious" weather. They said that visibility on the dual carriageway was down to 20 yards at some points, and it was raining heavily at the time.

A crash occurred on a slip road and police told how  more collisions were heard in the fog in the growing tailback while emergency teams dealt with the incident.

Crashed vehicles were strewn along the A20 towards Dover for more than half a mile.
   

The Kent Fire and Rescue Service officer in charge at the A20 pile-up yesterday (2 July)  praised the public, firefighters and all the agencies involved.

Around 40 vehicles were involved and 50 others were affected by the crash including a police car and two Kent Fire and Rescue vehicles. Four firefighters were taken to the William Harvey Hospital.

Specialist heavy lifting equipment was used to reach a car that was trapped between two articulated lorries but the person in the car died.

Station Manager Darran Stock said: “It was very foggy and raining and there were large numbers of people involved including pregnant mothers and young children. We were able to call upon the Red Cross Victim Support units who provided food, drink and toilet facilities for people which made a real difference.

“The incident was a great example of the emergency services working together. Our firefighters were able to help Ambulance staff give first-aid to the many people who suffered minor injuries.

“I cannot praise the public enough for their understanding and for the spirit they showed and their willingness to follow our instructions. We even had two off-duty soldiers who offered to help give first aid.

“There was the potential for the incident to have been a lot worse and we were very fortunate that no one else was killed or badly injured.”   

Police report twenty people have been injured and one person has suffered fatal injuries in a multi-vehicle crash on the A20 Dover bound carriageway.

The accident, took place shortly before 4.00pm today (30 June) just beyond the Roundhill Tunnel near Hawkinge, and is believed to have been caused by dense fog and rain.

A Kent police spokeswoman said that in total forty-three vehicles were involved including a coach carrying schoolchildren from Poole in Dorset. The children all escaped uninjured.

Five HGV's, 35 cars, a fire appliance and one police car were also involved.

The coast bound carriageway of the A20 has been closed and drivers are being warned to avoid the Folkestone and Dover area. The road is not expected to re-open until Sunday morning.

Kent County Council have set up a reception centre for those involved in the accident.

A Kent Police spokeswoman said: "Following usual procedure, because a police vehicle was involved, the matter has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission."  

With fears of another deluge this weekend, Shepway District Council are ensuring sandbags are available for residents in areas prone to flooding.

The council have also called off performances of Peter Pan on Saturday (30 June) and Coal Porters on Sunday (1 July) at the Lower Leas Park Amphitheatre in Folkestone.

The Cantium Brass Band is also cancelled at the Leas Bandstand in Folkestone on Sunday. Rattlebag will decide on Saturday if their gig at noon tomorrow at the bandstand will also be cancelled.

The Coal Porters will now play play on Sunday 12th August, at 6.00pm after the Natural Theatre Company's 'An Audience with Albert Einstein'.


 

Arena Leisure, the group which owns Folkestone racecourse presently has two of its tracks at Southwell and Worcester, under several feet of water, while at Folkestone, the oldest stand has been taken out of service because, according to one theory, of the impact of the recent earthquake which caused millions of pounds of damage to the town.

Arena carries out regular structural checks on its buildings and the 120-year-old stand was reported to have been perfectly sound until its most recent inspection, shortly after the earthquake struck.

Shutting it down, maybe forever, has come at the wrong time for a course enjoying a boom, with a record 7,500 crowd attending its most recent meeting.

Tomorrow's meeting should have no shortage of suggestions for a solution. Appropriately, the theme of the meeting is “Builders’ Day” and it's reported a number of local construction bigwigs will be there.

The group must be hoping the wet weather doesn't cause the track to flood too. The racecourse is being used to accommodate overnight campers wanting a good view of the riders in the Tour de France as race their way to Canterbury the following weekend.  

Two people have been rescued from their life raft northeast of Dover, after their yacht started to sink late on Sunday evening (24 June).

Dover Coastguard received a faint Mayday at shortly before midnight from a yacht called 'Atlanta', stating they were going to take to their life raft as the vessel was taking on water and starting to list.

Thames Coastguard assisted jointly with the search and rescue by scrambling a rescue helicopter from RAF Wattisham and alerting its Felixstowe mobile unit.

Ted Ingham, Watch Manager, Dover Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, said: "The Ro-Ro vessel 'Louise Russ' that operates from Tilbury to Rotterdam was nearby the yacht 'Atlanta' and was able to locate the flare and pick up the two crew who had abandoned to their life raft 55 miles northeast of Dover. The yacht was listing badly and semi-submerged.

The two Swedish casualties, a man and a women were safe and well and did not need any medical attention and were flown back to the air base.

 

A multi-vehicle crash on an East Kent road has left an 11-year-old girl dead. It has been reported that a woman and two other youngsters were seriously injured in the collision which involved three cars.

The accident took place on the A258 between Dover and Deal at 2.14pm today (27 May).

Firefighters used cutting equipment to free the woman from her vehicle. She is now being treated in the QEQM hospital in Margate along with the children.

Kent Police closed the road at Swingate, near Dover while their serious crash investigation unit examined the area. 

 

It has emerged that last weekend's earthquake caused more than £300,000 worth of damage to five Churches, according to The Church of England Newspaper, which has said that the worst hit was St Peter’s in Folkestone whose south transept completely collapsed.

Rev Stephen Bould at St Peter’s said the quake shocked the small congregation celebrating early morning Eucharist at the time.

He said: “It sounded like the largest freight train you’ve ever heard approaching at 150 mph through a tunnel. The church itself did quite visibly move while dust and small pieces of rubble descended on the congregation,” according to the newspaper.

In the Folkestone area several vicarages belonging to St Peter’s, St Eanswythe and St Saviours suffered damage.

Ecclesiastical Insurance has told the Church of England that the cost is likely to exceed of £300,000. The company’s chief claims manager David Bonehill said: “This was the worst earthquake we’ve seen since 2002 and it caused extensive damage to homes, businesses and of course churches too. We’re working as quickly as possible to get life back to normal.”