Podcast: Pensioner forced out of Anchor Hanover Housing Association home in Maidstone after mouldy ceiling collapses

A disabled pensioner has had to abandon his housing association home for the over 55s after a large chunk of the ceiling in his living room collapsed.

The KentOnline podcast has heard the disaster is only the latest in a long line of maintenance failures at his flat near Maidstone by his social housing landlord, Anchor Hanover Housing.

Also in today’s podcast, a screw head, a throat pack and swabs are some of the 37 items reportedly left behind in patients after surgery at Kent’s hospitals.

The new data reveals the number of clinical claims and incidents at the county’s hospitals relating to a “retained instrument post-operation” or a “foreign body left in situ”.

A hygiene inspector who discovered a “completely dry” hand basin at an all-you-can-eat buffet told staff they must wash their hands after using the toilet.

The environmental health expert also found unsealed raw meat in a fridge, mouldy walls, and a grease build-up during an inspection at the Ashford restaurant. 

You can also hear about a loft insulation surveyor who stole highly valuable jewellery from the homes of elderly and vulnerable customers out of “heartless greed”.

The thief’s been branded a “disgrace” by a judge for his “mean and callous” crimes committed over three months last year.

And it’s crunch time for the most significant transformation of a Kent town in decades with a planning decision set to be made next week.

Councillors will determine whether controversial plans for Folkestone harbour can go ahead.