麻豆约拍

Expectant mums in East Kent will not be able to give birth in Canterbury and Dover from September. The birthing centres there are to close, and will be replaced by new midwife-led units in Ashford and Margate, which the NHS says will benefit from being attached to consultant-led units.

Managers argue it is about giving the service a sustainable future, but campaigners who fought to keep the units at Canterbury and Dover open say they have been totally ignored during the public consultation (06:07, 07:07 and 08:07).

Brands Hatch is gearing up to host a major paralympic cycling event in September, but businesses in the nearby village of West Kingsdown say they will be effectively cut off for almost a week.

They have been told the A20 through the village will be closed for six days during the event. Traders say they face losing thousands of pounds, and claim the organisers of the games are ignoring their complaints (06:25, 07:22 and 08:22).

There is just a week to go now until the great British public can give it's latest verdict on what it thinks of its politicians. Next Thursday sees the latest round of local council elections. Here in Kent there are polls in two authorities, both Conservatrive controlled. One third of the seats in both Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells are up for grabs.

It will be an interesting test of whether Labour can make any inroads into the South East - it has no seats on Maidstone Council and just one in Tunbridge Wells. The Lib Dems will be bracing themselves to see whether there is to be a repeat of last year's council elections when they were received a bloody nose. And after five or more weeks of Coalition Government gaffs, the Conservatives will be wondering whether their honeymoon is over.

As part of 麻豆约拍 Radio Kent's election coverage we are focusing on the fight in Maidstone this morning. We speak to the leader of the Conservative group Christopher Garland, Fran Wilson from the Lib Dems, Labour candidate Paul Harper and Green candidate Stuart Jeffrey (07:39).