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RESIDENTS kicking up a stink over sickly sweet smells in Tonbridge can breathe a sigh of relief. After 20 years of complaints, Drytec, the company believed to be responsible, has agreed to do more to combat the pong. This month the company will test a new method to offset odours coming from its plant. The news is a breath of fresh air for people like Andy Norman, 64, who lives near the plant in Morley Road. Mr Norman, an antique...

A FOUR-FOOT cake has been created in celebration of Hadlow Tower's opening. Jackie Grover, of Lonewood Way, Hadlow, has spent four weeks creating the towering masterpiece for a party hosted by the Save Hadlow Tower Action Group. Mrs Grover only began her company, April Haven Wedding Cakes and Flowers at Christmas, and said she was "delighted" to be commissioned to make an edible replica of the local landmark. She added:...

MORRISONS wants to open a supermarket in Tonbridge, the Courier can reveal. Hot on the heels of reopening its Tunbridge Wells store, the retail giant has said it plans to build on the former Colas Roads site in Vale Rise, next to the Royal Mail depot. The new store, which would include a butcher's, fishmonger's and bakery, would create around 300 jobs in the town. The company is now on the brink of lodging a planning application...

A TONBRIDGE resident's controversial plan to found a pro-European Union political party run on biblical principles has collapsed after a launch event failed to attract a single potential member. As reported in the Courier last month, Leconfield Close resident Anthony Hayward roused anger among the town's gay community by declaring "practising" homosexuals would not be allowed to join his proposed United States of Europe...

NICK Clegg's biographer is looking to set the cat among the pigeons in the Weald during the next general election. Liberal Democrat Jasper Gerardwill go head to head with Tory Helen Grant for the area's parliamentary seat in the 2015 vote. Mr Gerard, a former Sunday Times journalist and Daily Telegraph food critic, has already begun the verbal battle, saying: "If Mr Bean had a wife, she would be Helen Grant." The father...

MYSTERY still surrounds the whereabouts of an historic crest which was erected to mark Queen Victoria's stay in Tonbridge. The regal arms of Queen Victoria's mother, Princess Marie Luise Victoria, commemorating the pair's frequent visits to the Rose and Crown Hotel, a 16 century coaching inn, has been missing from the porch for more than a year after it was taken down to be refurbished. The Courier reported in October how Tonbridge...

A SMALL Tonbridge bookshop will be welcoming a big name in the writing world at its grand opening, following a "cheeky" request by the shop owner. After a five-year chase, the owner of Mr Books, Mark Richardson, has finally persuaded renowned author and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz to sign books and meet fans at the High Street store – through the power of Twitter. The shop moved from its original Bank Street...

THIS is the first look at the newly-restored Hadlow Tower, which has been finally stripped of its scaffolding. After two years and £2.8 million, the Grade I listed Gothic Revival folly is almost ready for its first guests in May. The 19th century tower, which was the subject of a decade-long campaign by the Save Hadlow Tower Action Group, was bought in February 2011 by the Vivat Trust, a charity which restores historic...

A HUNT for oil in Sevenoaks is planned after an energy company applied to make an extensive search of the area. The villages of Otford, Dunton Green, Shoreham, Eynsford and Knockholt have been earmarked for exploration. Over the next few months a convoy of four specialist vibrator vehicles is set to work through the district, testing the land to see if they can detect the resource under the ground. The search could potentially yield...