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01:00Building spirits, South East Construction Expo makes room for new starters.
01:05It's just about trying to scoop up people that have not finished education or perhaps have and then can't find
01:11their way into work.
01:13And raising a glass, Swanley Care Home installs new bath for elderly residents.
01:18I like nightlife. My husband and I dance four times a week when I was years ago.
01:37Kent police will have a substantial number of officers on the ground this Saturday for a planned anti-immigration protest
01:43in Dover.
01:44This comes after a surprise demonstration early last month where the port of Dover was forced to shut for one
01:49day and residents were left shaken.
01:51Our local democracy reporter, Megan Shaw, went down to the briefing.
01:55A substantial police presence.
01:58That's what Kent police have promised residents in Dover will see this weekend after the town will be home to
02:04its first anti-immigration protest since Balaclava campaigners ambushed the town earlier this month.
02:10On the 5th of September, a group of civil but intimidating anti-asylum seeker protesters are descended on Dover, wearing
02:18balaclavas, taking the police by surprise and closing the port behind me for half a day.
02:24Now, Kent police are aware of another one of these anti-asylum seeker matches taking place this Saturday, but this
02:31one will be arranged by a different group of people.
02:33But the question still remains. How can residents and campaigners both stay safe?
02:39We do recognise that the impact that the protests did have on the 5th of September, but I would absolutely
02:46reassure, but I can say that we'll have a high number, substantial numbers of officers out in force on Saturday
02:53to reassure and minimise any risk to them.
02:57So I would absolutely reassure them that they can approach the police.
03:01The force revealed that the march would start at 3pm at the train station, before moving to the Golden Lion
03:06pub and along York Street, then to the A20 for speeches.
03:11Posts are circulating on Facebook inside residents to reclaim their homeland and birthright, and is not dissimilar from many other
03:19anti-asylum seeker protests the county has seen within the past year.
03:23But under new legislation, police now have powers to ban face coverings should they pose a risk of offences being
03:30committed.
03:31But while police in Portsmouth have utilised these powers following similar mass protests, these bans will still remain options rather
03:40than known certainties.
03:41My message here is if you're coming to protest peacefully in Dover, you don't need to be wearing a face
03:46covering.
03:47If your intent is to commit crime, then we will put removal conditions in place, and we will enforce them,
03:54because that's not an acceptable position.
03:56We know from feedback from our local communities that many, many people found it intimidating and highly unsettling seeing protesters
04:05in balaclavas.
04:07So we know there's an impact there, and we won't hesitate to use that new power if the circumstances require
04:13it at the weekend.
04:14Kemp Police's response to the previous protest came under fire after the force failed to consider tip-offs given to
04:21them the night before, and then described the protest as spontaneous.
04:25But the force has had four weeks to sufficiently plan a response to this protest, and a potential counter-protest,
04:32which would take action should protesters commit offences, but otherwise leave them alone.
04:37But whether or not the force will have to contend with any surprises is yet to be known.
04:42Megan Shaw at Folkestone Police Station.
04:47An East Mauling man has been imprisoned for three years after shooting two people with an air rifle.
04:52He's about to be searched following a disturbance and a DBH.
04:57This footage shows police looking for Luke Crossman's weapons.
05:01He threatened a woman with a wrench before arming himself with the air rifle you can see there, and a
05:05homemade flamethrower.
05:07He then shot two residents who tried to stop him.
05:09Police pursued Crossman and arrested him in the early hours of the following morning.
05:13The investigating officer said, we commend the bravery of the victims in this case, who tried their utmost to contend
05:18with his unpredictable violent outburst and keep each other safe.
05:23A pensioner living next to a notorious fly-tipping alley in Gillingham says her home has been invaded by rats.
05:29Anne Roche says the rubbish has built up in the alley behind her house for years, with it getting so
05:34bad that she and her neighbours can't even pass through the pathway.
05:37She's also seen rats in her home has been bitten by one as well.
05:40She claims the council said they would have to wait six weeks for someone to sort out the pests, so
05:44she spent the money on traps.
05:46Medway council said we take all fly-tipping in Medway seriously and encourage residents to report it whenever they see
05:52it.
05:53Yesterday marked the largest construction sector event in the southeast, bringing together hundreds of businesses at Maidstone's Dettling Showground.
06:01But with construction making up 8% of Kent's jobs, what are they doing to get more young people through
06:06the door?
06:06Well, Chloe Brewster's been finding out.
06:08Kent and Medway's construction industry makes up 7-8% of jobs here, around 58,000 roles in 2024.
06:17It's a sector that is welcoming new recruits, particularly those not in education, employment or training, otherwise known as NEETs.
06:26The Kent Construction Expo is the largest construction industry event in the southeast.
06:31There's 250 exhibitors here today, and 3,000 people will pass through.
06:37Several businesses here are welcoming new apprentices, as the government makes hiring them more appealing.
06:43Lots of new houses and developments being built, so there's a lot of construction opportunities, particularly in your carpentry and
06:51your brick.
06:53And electrical and plumbing, they're all very, very popular, everyone will always need an electrician and a plumber.
07:00And as a recruitment service, we support our employer every step of the way, funding all the incentives that are
07:07out there.
07:08But to train for a building site isn't simple studying. You've got to get hands on.
07:13We offer, primarily, I can focus on returning people to work and then capturing maybe the 16 to 24-year
07:22-olds that are not in education anymore.
07:24We run courses, back-to-world courses, as we call it.
07:28They can run anywhere from one week to three weeks, anywhere from a level one to a level two qualification.
07:35It's just about trying to stoop up people that have not finished education, or perhaps have, and then can't find
07:41their way into work.
07:44We've got our simulator.
07:45So, prior to anyone having any sort of training and getting out on site, this is, as you can see,
07:51it's a safer option to put people with complete novices.
07:55Yet again, it runs different programs.
07:56We've got the excavator.
07:57We've got the dumper and the crane.
07:59So, the tracks are with the pedals, and with the hand controls, it's operating the bucket, the arm and the
08:05boom, and yet again, the rotation, the 360 controls.
08:08With the controls, it will operate the slew and the, yet again, crane operations, depending on what the program is.
08:16Yeah, if you're into computer games and everything else, it's definitely one of the biggest attractions here at the moment.
08:21So, yeah, they love it.
08:22Training pipelines and the number of apprentices are expanding, but the Kent and Victor Chamber of Commerce say Kent must
08:28scale up training
08:29to reach recruitment demand in the industry.
08:32Chloe Brewster for KMTV in Mainstone.
08:37Now, don't forget, you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by logging on to
08:41our website, kmtv.co.uk.
08:43There you'll find all our reports, including this one.
08:46Is AI the new industrial revolution?
08:49Well, that's what Andy Burnham said, speaking at the Labour Party conference yesterday.
08:53When Britain takes the presidency of the G20 next year, I will show our newfound confidence as a country
09:03and I will show it to the world by putting AI centre stage.
09:09We led the world's first industrial revolution from the Midlands and the north of England.
09:14So why can't we lead the next?
09:16We can conference and we will.
09:19With AI adoption on the rise on a large scale, how are local businesses keeping up?
09:24I've been knocking on the door of local businesses in Rochester, asking how or if they use AI in their
09:30day-to-day use.
09:31One business said they didn't like the thought of AI and would prefer to create their own content
09:36and promote the business themselves on social media.
09:39A team member from another business was indifferent to AI, saying that it was going to happen anyway.
09:45But other businesses along the high street say they use AI for different things.
09:51For this business, AI adoption is still very new.
09:55At the moment, we can use AI for advertising purposes, but that's basically as far as it goes for us.
10:02It's just online apps that we can use to just sort of upload images and try and work with it
10:07to just make our own advertising a little bit better than what we could do if it was doing it
10:11ourselves.
10:11And for this business, AI is a tool that helps with the easier tasks, like research and social media.
10:17But business owner Glinda is aware of using it too much.
10:21So it's got its place. It's really useful. It can save you a lot of time, but it's not foolproof.
10:29And it doesn't completely replace that human element.
10:34We do use it for some of our social media posts.
10:37So I had an actual image of someone in pirate costume with a parrot, and I took that picture outside
10:44of our shop.
10:45But then I gave that to AI and asked it to generate a social media post for me, which was
10:53an awful lot quicker.
10:54In the meantime, pressure is on for businesses to remain authentic.
10:58I think what we're seeing then is brands are becoming more conscious about being trusted and that authenticity.
11:05And so actually there is a shift away from the automated and sort of generic stuff,
11:12which has sort of been out there for a while, towards a slightly more personalised touch, recognising you need to
11:17be genuine and authentic.
11:18With the Prime Minister opting for Britain to be at the forefront of new technological advances,
11:23will local businesses be able to keep up?
11:26Naila Mahamud for KMTV in Rochester.
11:30Coming up after the break, Kent police put a stop to a motorcyclist who was driving dangerously.
11:35On the Isle of Sheppey, we find out why rubbish has been left at a Commonwealth Wargrave Cemetery.
11:39In near Ashford, there's controversy in Kingswood as Forestry England have introduced new parking charges.
11:45And in Swansea, they're kicking it back in the care home.
11:49Our reporter Sophie Denny meets residents at a care home with a brand new bar.
11:53All that and more after this very short break.
11:56See you in just a few minutes.
21:22County Championship, while North East scored more than 1,300 runs in 26 appearances, including
21:27three centuries in his first summer back with Kent.
21:31To Rugby and Medway women's held onto their lead against Canterbury for the first win
21:35of a new season for an impressive 39-12 victory.
21:40It was a strong start for them with an early try and conversion, putting them seven points
21:44up with Esme Conway, notching more, tries to get them 19 then to 24-0.
21:49Canterbury did make their way through that Medway defence eventually, but they struck
21:53back with more tries, seeing out the match 39-12.
21:56Ellen Macdonald was named back of the match, while Alex David was named forward of the
22:00match.
22:01Over the track for our last sports story, where seven Kent drivers were out for the annual
22:08Goodwood Revival race, with four behind the wheels of 1960s Mini Coopers.
22:13Nick Swift, who's from Tentenden, had the highest-placed Mini, with six in the final scores, fending
22:17off more powerful cars like a Jaguar MK2 or a Ford Lotus Cortina.
22:21Hildenburg's Bill Solis managed to finish 16th, sharing his car across the races with
22:26F1 commentator Alex Brundle.
22:28There was even a father-daughter pairing from Marden, Patrick and Amy Watts, who fell to 26th
22:32on one of their races.
22:34And with that white checkered flag, that's all for your sports news.
22:46And now it's time to take a look at your weather.
22:54Well, tonight it's looking like a mild one.
22:56Lows of 11 down there in Ashford.
22:58Clear skies all around into tomorrow morning.
23:00It's going to get slightly warmer.
23:02Still low there in Ashford, same with Royal Tunbridge Wells.
23:05Highs of 16 in Dover, some sun.
23:07And absolutely no sun in Maidstone, 21 degrees in the north.
23:12But it's looking like some cloud as well.
23:15And here's the outlook for the remaining part of your week, Sunday 21.
23:20The same across Monday and Tuesday, only a little bit of sun peeking through.
23:29A school has just celebrated its 125th anniversary, that St. Peter's Infant School in Rochester.
23:36They've seen lots throughout their history.
23:39They've welcomed the 2012 Olympics. They've even overcome the closure of their own school.
23:45And to celebrate, the staff and the pupils looked around a mini-museum showing pictures
23:50from across the ages, remembering all those different days, and even some alumni returning
23:55to catch up with their old friends. That's amazing.
23:58Well, our community reporter, Henry Luck, went down to find out more.
24:02This ribbon-cutting ceremony by the Mayor of Medway has allowed pupils and staff, past and
24:10present, to celebrate the 125th anniversary of St. Peter's Infant School.
24:17A mini-museum was set up within the building, allowing everyone to reminisce about their school
24:24days and see some familiar faces.
24:28Over the years, they've been quite a lot, because my own children came to this school
24:32about 27 years ago. But as a member of staff, I think it's things like the beach trip, where
24:37we take the children down and get an ice cream, have a paddle in the sea. But we've had things
24:43like the birthday party we gave all the children just after Covid, when none of them had had
24:48a birthday party. So we had bouncy castles and games and ice creams, and that was such a great
24:54day. Just lots of joy, really.
24:56Throughout these past 125 years, this school has overcame and seen lots, including overturning
25:06a closure planned back in 2009. Two former pupils, who are great friends now, reunited for the
25:16occasion.
25:17We met a few years back a few years ago, didn't we? Yeah, we got back up together, sadly,
25:23at the passing of one of our mutual friends, Bob Foreman, who was also here with us. I remember
25:27playing here. I remember having games of Five Stones was one of the games we used to play
25:32out in the playground. You remember the bomb shelter, don't you, as well? I remember the
25:36air raid shelter that used to be in the grounds here. We used to take the hatch off of it
25:42and
25:42go down with the gas mask on when the doodlebugs was coming over.
25:47125 years on, and plenty of happy memories are still being made in this school.
25:54My favourite memory when I was year one, and when we were on a school beach trip, and my
26:03mummy got to shovel from Gracie, and then we kept digging and digging. So, my favourite
26:12memory was when we went to the beach on a beach trip, and we played in the sea and had
26:20so
26:20much fun.
26:21Whilst embracing the present and honouring the past, this school is looking to create more
26:27memories and friends for many years to come. Henry Luck for KMTV in Rochester.
26:36You've been watching Kent Tonight live here on KMTV. There's more news made just for Kent
26:41throughout the evening. And don't forget, you can always keep up to date with the latest
26:45news across your county by logging on to kmtv.co.uk. You can also keep us on your social timelines
26:51by checking out our Facebook and following our TikTok. But that is all the time we have.
26:55Thank you so much for watching, and we'll see you very soon. Goodbye.