Tuesday 15 March 2011

Roman theatre uncovered

Archaeologist working on the site

A new archaeological discovery has halted work in Canterbury. Melissa Green and Alex Cowley dug around to see what they could find.

Dead body washed up on beach as students prepare to film death scene

The scene where the body was washed up: Botany Bay

Film students preparing to shoot a death scene on a Kent beach were shocked when a real dead body washed up on the shore.

The woman’s corpse was brought ashore by the tide at Botany Bay in Broadstairs on Saturday afternoon.

Disaster hits close to home

Scene's in Japan

The catastrophic earthquake that hit Japan on Friday is one of the worst natural disasters to date. 

The earthquake hit 8.9 on the Richter scale and led to a tsunami and a series of fires. Experts are now warning that a second huge quake, almost as powerful as the first, could hit the country and trigger another tsunami. 

SOAP finds a new home


Soap has a new home

SOAP club nights have found a temporary home, following the loss of their building in St Georges Place.

Speed limit campaign succeeds

A249 between Canterbury and Wingham

A six-year campaign to reduce a speed limit on an accident-prone road has finally succeeded.

The A257 between Canterbury and Wingham is an accident black spot, however Kent County Council  is hopeful that the number of crashes will drop, after lowering the speed limit from 60 to 50mph.

Programme for Marlowe Theatre announced

The new Marlowe Theatre
Bosses recently announced the line-up for the new Marlowe Theatre, which officially opens on October 4.

Included in the programme is a version of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film Top Hat, starring Strictly Come Dancing’s Tom Chambers and Hollyoaks’ Summer Strallen.

Never-ending noise

Work has begun on the former Netto site

Demolition work has begun on the former Netto and Bamboo Tiger shops in St George’s place. The area is being turned into a student union and student accommodation for Canterbury Christ Church University. 

Students face further rent rises

Students: Its an expensive life

Students heading to University this autumn can expect another stiff rise in rent this year.

An annual increase of 4.3% will see students paying on average £70 a week, according to website Accommodation for Students.

The study has been been running for over 10 years and is based on a survey of 21,000 properties nationwide.

Art upheaval

Art students to pay more for materials

Third year art students at Canterbury Christ Church University are unhappy that they have to pay an extra £120 for supplies this year.

Olympic Games creates voluntary job opportunities

Olympic Games hit London in 2012

As tickets for the 2012 Olympic Games go on sale today, millions of people will be hoping to confirm their place at the historic event.  Alongside this, thousands of volunteers are awaiting response for once-in-a-lifetime job opportunities.

Student's suffer as striking commences

Strikes at University of Kent

Lecturers at the University of Kent today start their two-day strike in a dispute over pensions.

The staff at both the Canterbury and Medway sites are protesting against proposed changes to their retirement schemes, which will cut benefits to existing members of staff and past employees.

Canterbury hit by Census

Surveys are on their way


Questionnaires are to be posted through Canterbury letterboxes this month as the 2011 Census begins.

The survey documents will become one of the biggest ever single mail-outs made by the Royal Mail with TV broadcasts raising public awareness for the Census Day on March 27.

This will be the first Census to include new personal questions on civil partnerships, second homes and immigration.

How safe is the area you live in?

Policing the area

The police CrimeMapper launched two months ago giving anyone the chance to see how much crime there was in their area. The government said it allowed everyone to understand what the risks were but some critics felt the figures lacked explanation.

CT Online reporters Alex Cowley and Melissa Green examine Canterbury's crime figures.

Social media : how do you use yours?

Social media is growing and growing in popularity


The phenomenon that is social networking is spreading like wildfire, and the mobile generation is adding fuel to an already raging inferno.

There are now more than 200 million mobile users on facebook alone, but twitter is also taking off massively. Many businesses are now using social networking as a form of advertising. 

Monday 14 March 2011

Man faces charge of indecent exposure

Dover Eastern Docks

A man accused of exposing himself to two women in a car at Dover docks has appeared in court.

Aziz Miah, 35, appeared before Canterbury magistrates today where he denied a charge of indecent exposure.

Jogger faces jail term for alleged assault

Canterbury Magistrates Court


A man aged 59 accused of beating a pensioner with a wooden bat has appeared in court.

Arthur Mcmaster appeared before Canterbury magistrates this morning charged with causing actual bodily harm and carrying an offensive weapon.

Job losses as city bowling alley shuts

Bugsy's Canterbury centre has stopped trading

Bowling fans have been left disappointed after the city's only bowling alley Bugsy's was shut. 

The popular leisure attraction, located on St. George's Place, had its last night of trading on Sunday 6 March. 

CT Online understands around 20 employees have lost their jobs.

Disqualified driver fined again in court for failing to retake test

Example of a Driving Test score sheet

A driver who was ordered by a court to retake his test again after he was arrested for driving without insurance was caught by police just two months later.

Driver James Thomas appeared before Canterbury magistrates this morning where he told the court he had not realised he was effectively disqualified.

Reckless driver faces jail after drunken antics


A28 from Canterbury to Ashford

A drunk driver who was arrested by police after his car was spotted travelling with only three tyres faces a jail term after appearing in court this morning.

Daniel Clark, 31, from Ashford, appeared before Canterbury magistrates where he admitted to three charges.

Fuel prices hitting home


Rising petrol prices are making motorists increasingly angered

As petrol prices rise even higher, drivers are one group being the most heavily hit. The issue has been further compounded by prices in Kent being some of the highest around.

A garage in on the M2 near Gillingham was found to have the highest price for petrol in the UK at £1.40 a litre, diesel tipping the scales at £1.44. This increased cost is hitting the pockets of the public hard.

Varsity rugby success

Varsity rugby is hotly contested every year.

Despite being on the receiving end of defeat in this year’s Varsity, Christ Church University had some stand out performances in numerous sports.

Our rugby teams won two out of their three games, the men’s first team and women’s squad coming out on top in their crunch matches. 

Christ Church football team victorious in Varsity

CCCU football team

Canterbury Christ Church football team were celebrating a Varsity win as they overcome bitter rivals, University of Kent.

A goal by Paul Spinks after 24 minutes settled a fiery derby, with the match ending 1-0, taking the bragging rights back to CCCU for another year.

Christ Church Summer Ball

Students await the Summer Ball line-up

Tickets are now on sale for this year's much awaited summer ball. Students from Canterbury Christ Church University are now able to purchase their tickets online for the yearly event.

Christ Church through to IBM Finals

Left to right: William Hahlani, Jack Dalton, Christopher Andersson,
Michael Alexander and Moses Alusa

Business students from Canterbury Christ Church University have secured a place in the national finals of the IBM Business Challenge for the second year running.

The team consisting of Christopher Andersson, William Hahlani, Jack Dalton, Michael Alexander and Moses Alusa battled off major competition in the semi-finals, including Imperial College and Brunel University, held at RBS London to claim victory.