Lizzie Massey
BBC Live reporter

A couple face a repair bill of up to £5.5m after a river wall they did not know was theirs collapsed.

Johnny and Belinda Boylan spent their savings on a dream home by the river in Arundel, but six months later, the river wall fell and now the bottom of their home is flooded.

Mr Boylan said the wall was not mentioned in the deeds of the property, and the Environment Agency confirmed it had taken on responsibility of routinely checking the structure of the wall.

But now it's broken, responsibility has fallen to the couple.

Image source, Google Maps

The agency offered a £200,000 grant if they use one of its recommended works, which cost between £1.8m and £5.5m, but should they try to get any work cheaper, that help would be withdrawn.

Mr Boylan said that money is completely unobtainable.

He added: "It's unbelievable, we're saddened and angry.

"The wall collapsed pretty much with our lives, and now my wife has got motor neurone disease, which is making it totally unbearable to be honest."

James Humphreys, from the Environment Agency, said it has a "small interest" in the 19 further homes which are at risk due to the destruction of the wall.

He said the agency has an emergency plan to set up a temporary wall to stop the water spreading from the Boylan's to the other houses if necessary.

Mark Norman
Health Correspondent, BBC South East

A Brighton man is at the cutting edge of the fight against the disease which took his mother's life.

Lauren Moss
Education and social affairs correspondent, BBC South East

Drugs are being illegally sold to children as young as 13 on social media sites, BBC South East has found.

Stuart Maisner
BBC Live reporter

Pilot Robert, 23, describes flying as "pure magic."

#thisisme

James Dunn
BBC South East Today reporter

Image source, PA

Small retailers across the south east of England are defying a law which bans fees for credit or debit card payments, a BBC investigation has revealed.

Since 13 January, EU legislation has banned businesses from adding any surcharges for card payments.

However, in just three days, BBC South East secretly filmed 17 retailers in Kent and Sussex continuing to charge fees of up to 70p at the checkout.

East Sussex Trading Standards said the legislation applied to all businesses.

During undercover filming, some till operators denied any knowledge of the ban, while others claimed they believed it only applied to larger stores.

When BBC South East challenged a 50p charge in a takeaway, its reporter was told the new rules only applied "in shopping centres".

A handful of shopkeepers talked openly about the ban but claimed they could not afford to absorb the cost levied on them by banks for each card transaction.

Image source, Getty Images

The actual charges vary and are higher for small businesses - who can pay up to 3% plus a flat fee of around 20p per transaction.

But the new rules ban any attempt to pass on these costs with flat fees for cards as a method of payment at the checkout.

Many businesses also rent the terminals that read cards via contactless or chip and pin, which often cost about £20 a month.

The consumer organisation Which? said the investigation showed the issue was “likely” to be happening across the country.

It called on the government to monitor the effectiveness of the ban, and the fees banks charge retailers for card payments.

Dr Peter Merrick receives a conditional discharge after spending 10 hours occupying a drilling rig.

Celine Dookhran's body was found in a freezer at an empty house in south-west London.

Duncan Tomlin died three days after being restrained and put in a police van in 2014.

Police have lifted a cordon which was in place following a neighbour dispute in Dartford.

Officers were called to a property at 11:42 GMT following a report of a dispute between neighbours in Dartford Road.

A man was arrested on suspicion of threatening behaviour and remains in police custody.

Kent Police says a number of materials were located inside the property. Officers worked with the Ministry of Defence and they have now been identified as being safe.

The cordon has been lifted and residents evacuated from nearby properties have been allowed back home.

Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter

Border Force officers have seized 30 kilos (70lb) of cocaine, worth £3.2m, hidden in a lorry in Dover.

The drugs were hidden in a Latvian-registered lorry which was stopped at the Eastern Docks on 11 February.

Image source, UK Border Force

They'd been wrapped in packages and hidden under empty bird seed bags.

A Latvian man was arrested, and has now been released while the investigation continues.

Image source, UK Border Force

Image source, Getty Images

The Argus, external: Dad-to-be bottled by yobs in Burgess Hill

Kent Online, external: Home in Dartford sealed off and bomb squad called after neighbour dispute

Surrey Mirror, external: Man dies after collision involving two vehicles on taxiway

Mid Sussex Times, external: Cake-buying campaigner who spent 10 hours on oil rig lorry sentenced

Hastings Observer, external: Police seek information after attack on woman

Worthing Herald, external: Seed swap proves inspirational for all ages

Chichester Observer, external: Sidlesham ‘stink’ cause is identified

Kent Live, external: A man has been found dead in Dover Road, Folkestone

Brighton and Hove News, external: Royal Pavilion and museum staff to lift strike threat as council reviews handover to Brighton Festival

West Sussex County Times, external: Vets hold talk on Alabama Rot after disease reported in area

Eastbourne Herald:, external Police concerned for missing Eastbourne man

Brighton and Hove Independent:, external Council postpones cultural trust move for talks with union

Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter

The head of a trust which runs six academies in Medway has been found dead at his home.

Gary Vyse, the chief executive officer of the Williamson Trust, died on 12 February, according to a statement on the Trust's website.

Mr Vyse had joined as head teacher of the Hundred of Hoo Academy in September 2011, two years after it had been placed in special measures, taking it into the top 20% of secondary schools in England and Wales by December 2012.

He became the Trust's chief executive in September 2016.

Image source, Google

Image source, PA

“Ridiculous” housing targets for Kent are damaging the environment, councillors have said.

Kent County Council (KCC) chiefs claim that to fulfil goals set out by Westminster, developers have been permitted to chop down woodland and build on green fields.

At a training session on biodiversity, held by KCC officers at County Hall in Maidstone, councillors on the planning committee discussed the difficulties with meeting the targets and protecting the environment.

Andy Booth, Conservative councillor for Sheppey, said: “There has been great passion among councillors with regards to our native species, our woodland and our biodiversity but we are under extraordinary pressure, as an authority, to take on what are quite ridiculous housing figures."

Cllr Sarah Hamilton, who represents the rural area surrounding Tunbridge Wells for the Conservatives, said the balance between protecting the environment and progress was “not there”.

A joint research project between Kent and Nord-Pas de Calais on habitat change found that building developments has increased pressure on the natural heritage of the county by 62% since 1961.

Councillor Martin Whybrow, who represents the Green Party in Hythe West, claimed that steps by the council to meet demands for housing have benefited developers but are “not what the county needs”.

“There is too much building on the open green spaces between communities," he said.

He believes more social housing and homes for first-time buyers should be built within towns but built sustainably.

Yasmine Djadoudi
BBC Live reporter

A teenager who went missing nearly three weeks ago from his home in Herne Bay has not returned.

Matthew Wilson, 17, went missing from the town on 25 January.

He said he was going to Sittingbourne but has since suggested that he is in London.

He has not made contact for several days and police say they are growing 'increasingly concerned' for his welfare.

Image source, Kent Poice

Peter Whittick spent 10 hours atop an oil drilling rig parked at a service station.

Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter

Bomb squad officers have been called in and a house evacuated and cordoned off in Dartford, after police were called this morning.

Officers were called to the property in Dartford Road just after 11:40 GMT, to respond to a dispute between neighbours.

The Ministry of Defence was called in after a number of materials were discovered in the house.

A man's been arrested on suspicion of threatening behaviour.

Drugs dealers are using Facebook and Instagram to sell the anxiety drug to teenagers.

Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter

A fracking protester has escaped jail, after staging a sit-in on a drilling rig as it was being moved across Sussex.

Lance Montgomery is found guilty of gross misconduct after one woman was sent over 500 messages.

Hamish Mureddu-Reid
BBC News Online, South East

Canterbury City Council has taken full control of the Whitefriars shopping centre at a cost of £75 million.

The council said the purchase gave the authority more control over the centre of Canterbury "so it can act as a catalyst to its regeneration".

In June 2016, the council bought a 50% stake in Whitefriars. As part of that agreement, it was given first refusal to buy the remaining half.

Councillor Simon Cook, leader of Canterbury City Council, said: "As councils come to rely less on the money given to them by central government, we need to find ways to pay for essential services.

"The income we generate from this deal is another step towards us becoming self-sufficient.”

Image source, Canterbury City Council