Podcast: Mother from Maidstone shoplifted party food from Aldi in Aylesford for her daughter’s 18th birthday party

A Kent woman who stole party food for her daughter’s 18th birthday party after she ran out of cash has appeared in court. The single mother of three, who claims benefits, had hired a caravan to celebrate her eldest daughter’s special day but had no money left for party food. Also in today’s podcast, new technology has been rolled out across Maidstone in a bid to crack down on fly-tipping.Drones are helping council officers detect illegally dumped waste within minutes - a job that usually could take hours.Residents say it is “ridiculous” plans to turn a family home in a terraced street into a six-bedroom house of multiple occupation have been approved.The change of use application for the property in Strood was submitted to Medway Council earlier this year.The boss of a Kent music venue says he's hoping to buck the trend by opening a second site in the county.The team behind the Booking Hall in Dover are currently working on renovating what used to be the Life nightclub on Sittingbourne High Street.And we’ve been hearing how a team of therapy dogs have been spreading some Christmas cheer in Kent.The animals have been going round to hospital wards as part of a Medway Maritime initiative. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.