West Kent Local NewsYour trusted source for local news and community updates
A body has been found in woodland near Tonbridge during the search for a missing woman, with police confirming the death is not being treated as suspicious.
Police are investigating the unexplained death of a woman at a Tonbridge home, with a man arrested and later released on bail as enquiries continue.
Joan Roffey, a resident at Care UK's Invicta Court in Maidstone, has turned 100 - a milestone marked with family, friends and a cake baked by her daughter's neighbour, capping a life that took her from wartime evacuation to 13 years in Canada and journeys to more than 55 countries.
New ONS figures on babies born in 2025 show Olivia was the top girls' name in both Maidstone and Sevenoaks, Arthur topped the boys' list in Tonbridge & Malling and Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge & Malling's girls' name ended in a rare four-way tie, and Sevenoaks' George was the only winner nationwide not in England's top six.
A design by seven-year-old Mya Edwards has been chosen as the official mascot of Maidstone's Monster Mash, a week of inflatable monsters, a free town-centre trail and half-term activities running from 25 to 31 October.
The three new pocket parks on St Faith's Street, Brewer Street and Union Street in Maidstone town centre - trees, planting and sustainable rain gardens replacing hard paving - are now complete and open, Maidstone Borough Council confirmed on 22 September.
A man in his 20s was flown to a London hospital with gunshot injuries after a serious assault in Acacia Walk, Swanley on Thursday evening. Four men have now been arrested, and Kent Police says it believes those involved knew each other and is treating it as an isolated incident.
Maidstone's Planning Committee will be asked on Thursday to approve 62 homes on land south of Marden Road, Staplehurst - a site outside the village's own settlement boundary and not allocated for housing, but recommended for approval anyway because the borough can no longer show a five-year supply of land for new homes.
Rusthall won 8-7 on penalties after a 3-3 draw at Fleet Town, Larkfield & New Hythe thrashed Chislehurst Glebe 4-0 and Tunbridge Wells and Snodland Town also progressed in the FA Vase First Round - only Bearsted fell, beaten 2-1 at home by Hassocks.
Tonbridge Racecourse goes full Bavarian this month for Oktoberfest Tonbridge - the perfect excuse to dig into Oktoberfest's genuinely odd origins, beer's 4,000-year back-story, and the breweries flying West Kent's flag today.
A woodland half marathon and 10k at Bedgebury Forest kicks off a run of organised races across West Kent, through the Marden 10K and Half Marathon, and on to a 50km North Downs Way ultra from Detling in December - all open for entries now.
Kent Fire and Rescue Service sent eight engines to a blaze involving multiple shipping containers in Wrotham that took over four hours to put out, while seven engines and a height vehicle tackled a recycling centre fire in Allington, Maidstone, earlier the same evening. No injuries were reported at either scene, and the cause of both fires remains unknown.