Stuart Maisner
BBC Live reporter

Severely disabled adults say they are "shocked, scared and disgusted" their Sussex care home will close in three months without any certainty as to where they will be moved to.

The Ernest Kleinwort Centre in Burgess Hill is in special measures after it was rated "inadequate" by Care Quality Commission inspectors.

The trust that runs the centre claimed it has to close because of problems recruiting staff.

Image source, Getty Images

The Argus, external: Find man who saved my life: Casualty star tells of horror crash

Kent Online, external: Cause of woman's death may never be known after she was found in squalid Dartford home

Eastbourne Herald:, external Man dies after tripping on ramp by Eastbourne Arndale Centre works

Kent Live, external: 'A real gentleman' Asda pays tribute to Folkestone trolley worker after sudden death

Crawley and Horley Observer, external: Police crackdown on ‘serious violence’ in Crawley crime hotspots

Worthing Herald, external: Rowing club members describe rescue of teenage girl from water in Worthing

Get Surrey, external: Farnham family gets new puppy after losing Jackapoo in Frensham Pond Rottweiler attack

West Sussex County Times, external: Changes to road closures for Velo South Sussex are being considered

Hastings Observer, external: Giant rainforest mural in St Leonards

Chichester Observer, external: Damage to tents at Bognor fair branded a ‘mindless’ act

Mid Sussex Times, external: Motorists warned about delays on M25 and M23 due to huge transporter

Brighton and Hove News, external: Shared housing crackdown will take too long, say Brighton residents

Brighton and Hove Independent, external: 'Superbin' with hidden litter pickers unveiled in Brighton

Sussex Express, external: Villagers can honour the fallen at last at new war memorial

Stuart Maisner
BBC Live reporter

A primary school in Margate is staying open during the summer holidays to feed hungry children and their parents.

HQ Trivia's Sharon Carpenter on how hip-hop helped her beat her shyness to present live TV.

Brighton sign defenders Martin Montoya from Valencia and Dan Burn from Wigan on four-year deals for undisclosed fees.

Residents at a Sussex care home have been told their centre will close in three months.

Hamish Mureddu-Reid
BBC News Online, South East

The driver of a Ford Transit van has been injured when the vehicle left Jubilee Way in Dover and fell 30ft (9.1m) down an embankment, Kent Fire and Rescue Service said.

"First on the scene was an off duty critical care paramedic who assessed the casualty, while fire crews stabilised the vehicle," a fire service spokesman said.

He was treated at the scene by ambulance crews.

Border Force officers found a father and daughter hidden under Nelu Spinu's van floor, a court hears.

Sarah Booker-Lewis
Local Democracy Reporter

Noise from events and increased traffic are among 15 objections to an planned extension Hove Rugby Club sent to Brighton and Hove City Council.

In a report to councillors, the new extension and terrace is described as 100 metres from the nearest house.

The club, based at Hove Recreation Ground, in Shirley Drive, wants to build more changing rooms and a meeting room at the back of its building, topped with a roof terrace.

The report, to the council's Planning Committee, recommends that councillors grant planning permission for the scheme at a meeting on Wednesday.

Huw Oxburgh
Local Democracy Reporter

Image source, Google Maps

Plans to close two hospital wards in East Sussex have been put on hold due to increased demand during the recent heatwave, NHS bosses have said.

Earlier this year, the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (ESHT) revealed plans to reduce its total number of hospital beds by 75, in what the trust said was an effort to make "more efficient use of its resources".

The move included plans to close down two wards - Seaford 4 Ward at Eastbourne District General Hospital and Benson Ward at the Conquest Hospital in Hastings - with staff to be redeployed elsewhere within the trust.

Both locations, the trust said, would be kept on as escalation wards, which would reopen for a set period during winter as well as at other times of high demand.

At a meeting of the trust's board on Tuesday, chief executive Dr Adrian Bull said: "We are seeing levels of demand which you would normally only see in a winter crisis."

Sarah Booker-Lewis
Local Democracy Reporter

A crackdown on the number of shared houses in Brighton and Hove is taking too long for Moulsecoomb and Bevendean residents.

At a Neighbourhood Action Plan (NAP) meeting, council planning officers said that proposed new controls on houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) would be the toughest in the country if they go through.

But there was an angry reaction from many at the meeting yesterday because if the controls are agreed, they will not take effect until 2021.

Moulsecoomb resident Wayne Metcalf said: "The way things are going we will have no community."

Mr Metcalf said that his home was almost surrounded by HMOs.

Principal planning officer Steve Tremlett said that it was not possible to put a blanket ban on shared houses in the area but, he said, officers would consider wider issues.

Western Storm go top of the Kia Super League with a fifth consecutive win, while Surrey Stars move into finals contention.

Huw Oxburgh
Local Democracy Reporter

A family's plans to extend their home in East Sussex have been given the go-ahead despite objections from parish councillors.

The homeowners were given planning permission to build a two-storey extension at Chapelfield House in Harveys Lane in Ringmer by Lewes District Council.

However Ringmer Parish Council considered the design to go against the village's neighbourhood plan. The applicants said the plans had been altered to take into account the parish council's concerns and make the extension more in-keeping with the surrounding area.

Image source, Jason and Kelly White

Dean Kilpatrick
Local Democracy Reporter

Medway Council has extended its housing repairs and maintenance contract with Mears Group.

The firm will continue to provide services for the authority's 3,107 properties and 207 leaseholds, having worked on behalf of the authority since 2014.

Work carried out by Mears includes repairs, maintenance, gas servicing, replacement kitchens and bathrooms, and external decorating.

The value of the contract, which comes out of the council's housing revenue account budget and will run until 2024, has not been made public.

Meanwhile, the authority has agreed to put the contract for equipment used for therapeutic, rehabilitation, mobility and independence needs up for tender.

It will now go through the procurement process before a decision is made.

South Western Railway says it now plans to run its full Saturday timetable.

Ajaz Karim indecently assaulted six girls at Christ's Hospital School in Horsham in West Sussex.

Dean Kilpatrick
Local Democracy Reporter

A council is forecast to overshoot financial targets by nearly £5m next year.

The leader of Medway Council says keeping spending within its £290m revenue budget is getting "more difficult every year".

However, Conservative councillor Alan Jarrett said he expects the 2018/19 budget to be on target despite council papers for the first quarter of the financial year predicting the authority to overspend.

The "adverse forecast" predicts the council to overshoot its target by more than £4.8m.

Mr Jarrett admitted the figure was a "significant sum" but said it is on the back of increasing demand for services and cuts in funding from central government.

He said: "It is a difficult position we're in - it's not unusual at this time of year to have these types of projections but, as I say every year, our flexibility and ability to deal with variances in the budget become more difficult each year.

"Me and my colleagues will continue to beaver away at it, with the expectation we will bring the budget on target again as we've done every year in the life of this administration - it just gets more difficult every year."

Image source, Woodland Trust/PA Wire

Eastbourne tennis star Johanna Konta is facing opposition over a second attempt to build a new house in the grounds of her property at the edge of Ashdown Forest, the setting for Winnie-the-Pooh's Hundred Acre Wood.

The 27-year-old had a previous application to build a new house at the site in Wych Cross, Forest Row, turned down because it was deemed "significantly detrimental and harmful to the character and appearance of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty".

The Woodland Trust is objecting to the sportswoman's new application to demolish an existing building and construct a four-bedroomed one-and-a-half storey house, claiming it would destroy part of an "irreplaceable habitat" of ancient woodland.

Trust campaigner Jack Taylor said: "In light of new planning rules published by the Government, the local planning authority should call game, set and match on this insensitive application.

"It could be sited anywhere within her grounds rather than being lobbed in the middle of precious habitat and we would urge her to reconsider."

Author AA Milne set his Winnie-the-Pooh adventures in Ashdown Forest after he used to watch his son Christopher Robin have adventures with his toys in the woods.

A Wealden District Council spokesman said: "No decision has been made. It's being looked at and we are getting consultee responses."

Huw Oxburgh
Local Democracy Reporter

The intake of a children's home in Newhaven is to be increased.

Hilltop House in Palmerston Road will be able to increase the number of children it can house from five to six.

The home opened in October last year.

Before making a decision Lewes District Council heard how the application was opposed by several local residents as well as Newhaven Town Council's planning committee.

The concerns raised by objectors included fears that there would be an increase in parking pressures should additional staff be hired at the home.

However the planning committee was informed there would be no building work or additional staff as a result of the application.