Podcast: Firefighters issue advice to reduce number of wildfires after being called to more than 300 in Kent since the first heatwave of the year episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 28, 2026 · 22 MIN

Podcast: Firefighters issue advice to reduce number of wildfires after being called to more than 300 in Kent since the first heatwave of the year

from KentOnline · host KentOnline, Nicola Everett

Firefighters have issued advice to try and reduce the number of grass fires in Kent as we're told 300 have broken out since the first heatwave of the year. Stats show 130 of them were in July alone - and 30 were tackled over the past weekend. Smokers are being told not to throw cigarettes out of car windows and there's guidance around disposable barbecues too. It comes as major wildfires continue to burn in parts of Europe. We've been speaking to a travel agent from Tunbridge Wells who's got advice for anyone due to travel to France and Spain this summer. Also in today's podcast, a woman's recovering from emergency surgery after suffering a life-threatening brain haemorrhage while shopping in Medway. Margaret Matharu from Halling started to experience a pain in the back of her head while she was at a checkout in Morrisons in Strood last month and has described what happened. The landlords of a Kent pub say they're losing hundreds of pounds a day because of road closures in their village. Six weeks worth of gas main repairs are taking place in Golden Green near Tonbridge. A petition's been set up calling for cheaper school travel for tens of thousands of pupils in Kent. It's because over the past four years, the Kent Travel Saver pass for children to use a bus has increased from £450 to £615. Families say it's become unaffordable during the cost of living crisis. And, a well-known Kent hairdresser is retiring after almost six decades in business. George Antoniou, who's originally from Cyprus, opened his first salon in Canterbury in 1968 - and went on to build an empire with 11 more sites across the county. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Podcast: Firefighters issue advice to reduce number of wildfires after being called to more than 300 in Kent since the first heatwave of the year

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