Dean Kilpatrick
Local Democracy Reporter

Schools in Medway exclude pupils "far too quickly" and should focus more on addressing their needs, according to the man leading the council's children's services.

The authority's permanent exclusion rate is more than twice over the national average, while Medway has had the highest rate of fixed-term primary school exclusions for three years running.

Reasons for exclusion include persistent disruptive behaviour, physical assault against pupils and adults, as well as incidents involving drugs and alcohol.

Speaking at a meeting on Thursday, Conservative councillor Andrew Mackness, the council's portfolio holder for children's services, said: "In terms of exclusion, we have improved but it's nowhere near what I expect it to be.

"The reality is schools revert to exclusion far too quickly."

Labour councillor Adam Price said: "In contrast, our neighbour in Kent seems to be tackling this issue much more than Medway and they're six times larger than us."

Provisional figures suggest 7,750 school days were lost in 2017 in Medway due to fixed-term exclusions, compared to 9,480 in 2016 - a fall of nearly 20% year-on-year.

Neil Bell, who has died aged 61, was described as a "brilliant regional sports journalist".

Lizzie Massey
BBC Live reporter

Around 170 people's jobs are at risk at a biotechnology company in Kent.

Thermo Fisher Scientific plans to relocate its Ashford operations to existing facilities in Mexico, China and Denmark.

Consultations are ongoing and should the proposal be approved, it would lead to the phased redundancies of all staff at that base, and the company would complete its relocation by the end of 2019.

A company spokesman said it would do "everything we can to provide the support necessary to help staff transition into new work".

He added: "This was a very difficult decision, and in no way reflects the quality of work or commitment by the staff in Ashford. We greatly appreciate their ongoing dedication to serving our customers.

Yasmine Djadoudi
BBC Live reporter

Singer Ed Sheeran has sent a message to a woman from Eastbourne who is battling stage four ovarian cancer.

A man is being treated for a head injury after a car was reportedly driven at him in Hove.

Image source, GOOGLE

Police say the 28-year-old man from Shoreham got out of his green Citroen after what's thought to have been a driving dispute.

Another man is said to have driven his vehicle at the victim, knocking him down.

He also suffered cuts to his face and wrist and an ankle injury.

It happened on the A259 Kingsway between Grand Avenue and First Avenue at about 20:00 GMT on Friday 2 March.

Officers are looking for anyone who has dashcam footage of what happened.

A woman and two children were hurt in a hit and run on the A22 Hailsham bypass on Saturday afternoon.

Police say a red Nissan Micra and a silver Honda Civic collided with each other 100m south of the Arlington Eagles roundabout, causing both vehicles to spin.

The Honda is then thought to have travelled the wrong way on the road for a short distance before being driven off along the A295 towards Hailsham.

Officers believe the car had damage at the front and the driver may have had a beard. They're asking witnesses to come forward.

A 71-year-old man has died 11 days after being hit by a van near Chichester.

Raymond Stenning from the village of Hunston was knocked down on Selsey Road on Thursday 1 March.

Police are seeking witnesses to what happened.

Stuart Maisner
BBC Live reporter

The motor racing team changing the lives of disabled veterans.

Southern rail is running reduced and limited services during peak times on three lines.

Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter

An elderly man has died after being hit by a car in Tenterden.

The 84-year-old was struck by a blue Nissan Micra as he used a pedestrian crossing in the High Street, just before 18:40 GMT last night.

Image source, Google

He was taken to a hospital in London, but died a short time later.

An 18-year-old man from Tenterden has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

After a devastating stroke, Chris Smith found new purpose through volunteering at a cookery school.

Lauren Moss
Education and social affairs correspondent, BBC South East

After I exclusively revealed some landlords offering 'sex-for-rent' arrangements, what action is Home Secretary Amber Rudd taking?

Sports Minister Tracey Crouch has led the tributes to BBC South East's sports reporter Neil Bell, who has died of cancer.

Neil passed away in the early hours of Sunday.

Ms Crouch, who is also the MP for Chatham and Aylesford, tweeted: "Very sad to hear the news about @bbcsoutheast, external's Neil Bell. He was a brilliant regional sports journalist and his expertise will be much missed. My thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues."

Brighton and Hove Albion, Gillingham FC and Crawley Town also tweeted their condolences to Neil's family.

Scores of people have paid tribute to Neil, known as Belly, on Facebook and Twitter.

A 42-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Kathryn Langley
BBC Live reporter

A woman who suffered a rare form of miscarriage which led to cancer is taking on a mammoth challenge to raise money for a charity that helped her.

Kelly Stocker and her friend Alice Jeffrey, from Rustington, have set themselves the task of cycling 950 miles across the UK.

A man has died in a car crash at Smallford near St Albans.

Image source, Google

His car - a red Vauxhall Zafira - left the road in Oaklands Lane at about 04:00 on Sunday.

Hertfordshire Police said the car had been travelling away from St Albans when, for as yet unknown reasons, it collided with a raised bank and came to rest against a tree.

The driver, a 35-year-old man from Luton, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Danny Pike
Presenter, BBC Sussex and Surrey

Today I'm talking about identity theft.

I want to hear from you if you've been a victim.

Join me on BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey from 09:00 GMT, and call on 03459 57 00 57.

Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter

A man's died after being hit by a lorry in Sittingbourne.

It happened in St Michael's Road, near the railway station, at around 22:25 GMT on 10 March.

The man was declared dead at the scene.

Image source, Google

Police are searching for a 75-year-old woman who's gone missing from her home in Staines.

Pamela Pearce, who's described as "vulnerable", hasn't been seen since 19:00 GMT last night.

It's thought she may have used public transport to travel to Sussex or Dorset.

Image source, Surrey Police