News, sport, weather and travel updates for the South East of England
Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter
After a year of tragedies, this family are now facing a £10,000 bill after a stolen car nearly destroyed their home.
Police are appealing for witnesses after a woman was attacked in Hastings.
The 27-year-old was walking along Milward Road near to the junction of Milward Crescent between 03:00 and 04:00 GMT on Sunday 17 December when she was assaulted.
She was approached from behind and punched and kicked to the ground.
The suspect is a woman with long dark hair worn in a ponytail.
The victim went to the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards where she was treated for injuries to her head and ribs.
Police are appealing for witnesses.
Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter
There was a treat for Christmas shoppers in Maidstone this weekend, with the town centre used to stage a live nativity, including animals.
A man suffered a broken arm after a hit-and-run in West Sussex.
The 33-year-old man from Horsham was walking eastbound on the A272 near Billingshurst near to the junction with Shipley Road at about 16:30 GMT on Wednesday 13 December when he was struck.
A dark-coloured Audi or red estate travelling west pulled out to overtake the cars in front and hit him.
The vehicle did not stop and continued on towards Billingshurst.
Police are appealing for witnesses.
Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter
The dress, which is encrusted with diamante jewels, is expected to be sold overseas.
More than 40 firefighters have been tackling this blaze at a derelict school in Newhaven.
An East Sussex County Council spokesman said: "This building closed as a school in 2014 and was later the same year declared surplus to requirements by the council.
“We have contracted to sell the site to a developer who has now received planning permission from Lewes District Council to demolish the existing buildings and build new housing units on the site, subject to completion of a section 106 agreement.”
A Marden family face telling their toddler their nine-month-old puppy has been stolen a week before Christmas.
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Image source, Sussex PolicePolice are searching for three girls who are missing from the Worthing area of West Sussex.
Joliebelle Wheeldon, Sophie Norris and Clarice Hall (pictured left to right) travelled to Brighton on Saturday 16 December and were due home that evening but didn't return.
Joliebelle, 13, Sophie, 12, and Clarice, 13, are friends and police believe they may be together and travelled by train between Worthing and Brighton.
Officers say it is unlike them to go missing.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police online, external.
Kathryn Langley
BBC Live reporter
An animal rescue charity's searching for the owner of this little kitten called Kevin.
He was found under the bonnet of a car which had travelled from Kent to West Sussex.
Image source, Wadars Animal RescueKevin with animal rescue officer, Elaine Sinclair
The owner of the vehicle had driven from Chatham to Horsham and then on to Worthing, where she heard a meow and discovered the furry stowaway.
The woman took the kitten to Grove Lodge vets in Worthing where staff named him after the main character in the festive film Home Alone.
It's not known where Kevin climbed into the car and he isn't microchipped.
Wadars Animal Charity are appealing for anyone who knows where Kevin lives to get in touch by calling 01903 247111.
Lizzie Massey
BBC Live reporter
Firefighters entered a two-storey house which was alight and rescued a pet dog.
Four fire engines were sent to the home in Pluckley Road, Smarden, at 11:15 GMT.
The occupants were out, but the dog was still inside.
The cause of the fire is not yet known and firefighters are at the scene.
Lizzie Massey
BBC Live reporter
Image source, Kent PoliceThe statue was in the back of a horse box
A statue of a shepherd boy, stolen more than a year ago, has been found in the back of a horsebox.
It was taken from Nymans Gardens in Handcross on 1 September 2016.
On 11 December this year it was found in Horton Kirby, Kent, and has now been returned to the National Trust estate.
A 23-year-old man was previously convicted of the theft but never revealed the location of the stolen statue.
Kathryn Langley
BBC Live reporter
Image source, ESFRSForty firefighters are now at the scene of a major fire at a derelict school in Newhaven.
They were called to the site of the former Grays School in Western Road at 10:48 GMT.
Crews from Newhaven, Seaford, Brighton, Hove and Eastbourne, along with two Aerial Ladder Platforms, are in attendance.
People living nearby are being asked to keep doors and windows closed.
East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service says nobody's thought to have been hurt.
Image source, ESFRS
Image source, ESFRS
Image source, ESFRSJason Puncheon was held after a disturbance on the street near a Surrey nightclub.
Read MoreAbout 30 firefighters are at the scene of a major fire in Newhaven, East Sussex.
It's thought to have broken out at the former Grays School on Western Road.
Image source, Getty ImagesMid Sussex Times, external: Police seek witnesses to fatal A23 Warninglid crash
The Argus, external: Woman trapped in car after crash with gritter lorry
Kent Online, external: Patient awarded £2.75m damages after Medway Hospital blunder
Get Surrey, external: Police search for missing Olivia Joel: Appeal launched to trace 14-year-old from Camberley
Brighton and Hove Independent, external: Peter Kyle: We need apprenticeships to fill skills shortages
Kent Live, external: The unique way one Kent town celebrates Christmas is absolutely stunning
Worthing Herald, external: Pub of the Year winners revealed
Crawley and Horley Observer, external: NSPCC makes referrals every week over fears of child sex abuse in Sussex
Chichester Observer, external: Chichester Iceland evacuated after small fire
Hastings Observer, external: Mass boiler breakdowns predicted as ice hits Sussex
Kathryn Langley
BBC Live reporter
Image source, Eddie MitchellA 22-year-old woman from Surrey is still critically ill after a road crash on the A23 in Sussex in which a man died.
The collision happened at about 01:40 GMT on Saturday in a lay-by at Warninglid.
A Nissan Micra travelling southbound left the road and hit a parked lorry.
A 25-year-old man from Crawley, who was in the front passenger seat, died at the scene.
The driver, a 29-year-old woman from Surrey, needed treatment for serious leg injuries, while a 20-year-old man from Copthorne wasn't badly hurt.
Any witnesses who saw the car being driven shortly before the crash are being asked to contact Sussex Police.
Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter
Last year three people died and 16 others were seriously injured on Kent's roads because of drivers who'd been using drugs.
We've been on patrol with the officers who are on the front line in the fight against drug-driving.
You can see more on the Sunday Politics for the South East here.
Christian Velten has been missing in Africa for 14 years. His family hopes he will return home.
Kate Kinsella
BBC Weather
Here's my forecast.
Danny Pike
Presenter, BBC Sussex and Surrey
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