Stuart Maisner
BBC Live reporter

Thanet District Councillors voted last night against the proposed local plan which included 2,500 new homes to be built on the site of Manston Airport.

Chris Wells, UKIP leader of the council, came to power on a pledge to reopen Manston as an airport, but he's now backing proposals to build on the site.

Mr Wells said it was "disgraceful" that councillors voted against the proposals.

He said: "It means the government will step in to take over the local plan and Thanet will have to take even more new homes."

Craig Mackinlay, the Conservative South Thanet MP, said: "It shows the tide is going out for UKIP in Thanet."

Georgina Burnett
BBC Weather

It's going to be a bright, sunny and cold Friday, but there's more rain on the way at the weekend.

Here's my forecast.

Keisha Strain, a 19-year-old student from Littlestone-on-Sea, carries out on-shore duties for the RNLI.

But French president indicates he will not bow to demands to include financial services in Brexit deal.

Theresa May and the French President discussed their commitment to the "Le Touquet" border agreement in Calais.

The 8ft-tall bronze monument is being created in West Sussex, but will be located in Manchester.

Sara Thornton
BBC Weather

Enjoy the sunshine tomorrow, before it all changes at the weekend.

A woman has told how her depression and anxiety are helped by "photogratherapy".

Melissa Bird Ednie, 45, from Biddenden in Kent, gave up work last June because of her condition.

She says her state of mind completely changes when she is taking pictures.

Sue Nicholson
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Three hyper acute stroke units giving patients "the best possible care" in the first few hours and days after their stroke are being created in Kent and Medway.

The NHS has proposed turning three existing hospital stroke units into the specialist sites.

Each will have stroke specialists and therapists working 24/7 shifts, with consultants on the wards every day.

They will also each have an acute stroke unit to give patients expert care after the first 72 hours until they are ready to leave hospital, and a clinic for assessing and treating transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs or mini strokes).

A proposed shortlist of five possible options for the location of the hyper acute stroke units has been drawn up ahead of final approval.

A public consultation on the proposals is due to start in early February.

A statue of one of the leaders of the suffrage movement, Emmeline Pankhurst, is being created in an artist's rural studio in Sussex

It's part of the commemorations marking 100 years since women got the vote.

A person was trapped inside their house when a tree fell onto the roof after high winds caused widespread chaos across London.

A team from London Fire Brigade (LFB) freed the person, in Dartford, Kent, after being called out at 06:46 GMT.

It was one of 16 weather-related incidents the LFB had to respond to today.

Others include unstable scaffolding in Orpington, south-east London, and a boat partially breaking away from its mooring in Lambeth Pier, south London.

Image source, Getty

Renters in London are spending an average of 37% of their earnings on rent, according to a new study.

The average monthly rent in the capital is now £836 while average monthly earnings are just less than £2,300, said jobs site CV-Library.

Other cities with high rents included Brighton at £623 a month, 32% of average wages, Edinburgh (£463, over 23%), Bristol (£458, almost 22%) and Southampton (£418, around 21.8%).

People living in such cities could be heading towards "debt levels" each month, the report said.

The city with the highest monthly pay was Aberdeen at £2,300.

Lee Biggins, managing director of CV-Library, added: "While some cities offer manageable living costs and generous pay packets, others could be pushing workers to breaking point."

Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter

Monkeys bred in the Garden of England are playing a crucial role in a conservation project on the other side of the world.

Former cardiologist Neil Ineson carried out the assaults at Frimley Park Hospital over six years.

University of Kent vice-chancellor Dame Julia Goodfellow receives an extra £45,000 in her final salary.

Ambrose Treeby stole hundreds of pounds from women in their 80s and 90s.

The man in charge of five schools in east Kent has claimed head teachers are using funds aimed at disadvantaged pupils to subsidise their budgets, labeling the scheme "bonkers".

Paul Luxmoore, executive head teacher at Coastal Academies Trust in Thanet, said without pupil premium "we wouldn’t be able to run our schools for all pupils".

He also claimed the system, which gives schools up to £1,900 per pupil from a disadvantaged background, is “patronising for some families”.

Mr Luxmoore oversees the running Cliftonville Primary School and Hartsdown Academy in Margate, Dane Court Grammar School in Broadstairs, Hartsdown Academy, King Ethelbert School in Westgate-on-Sea and The Royal Harbour Academy in Ramsgate.

Speaking during a Kent County Council select committee meeing on Monday, he said: “It is not the case that you have the money that you literally spend on those students – it doesn’t happen.

“As a national policy - I think it’s bonkers."

A Department of Education spokesman said: “All schools are held to account for how they use pupil premium through performance tables and Ofsted inspections.”

Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter

Police in Farnham have stopped second attempt in a week to steal a digger in the town.

Just before 20:00 GMT on 16 January, a tracker installed on a machine at a building site in Compton Way, lead officers to nearby woods, where a dog was used in the search for the thief.

A 26-year-old man has been arrested.

On Monday a helicopter and dog teams were used to stop the theft of a digger and transit van in Boundstone Road.

Image source, Google

Kent appoint Paul Downton, who spent 18 months as managing director of the ECB, as their new director of cricket.

Gillingham sign Bury midfielder Callum Reilly on loan until the end of the season.