Podcast: Traffic lights installed outside controversial Ashford estate as first residents set to move in

Traffic lights outside a controversial new-build estate in Ashford are set to be switched on next month – after disruptions and overnight closures. 

It comes as the first residents of the huge new development are expected in the spring. 

Also in today’s podcast, a dog walker whose golden retriever was almost hit by a car says something needs to be done to stop brazen motorists driving down ‘ghost roads’.

It comes as a new road in Ashford, which is currently closed as it is yet to be adopted by Kent Highways, is being used as a rat run by speeding drivers. 

Hear from the head of a secondary school in Kent who says bold plans to lock away smartphones in pouches are turning out to be more successful than they’d hoped. 

Teachers and pupils agree that school life has improved. 

Two tower blocks are set to be built in Maidstone despite neighbours’ claims the area has already been “crammed full with properties”.

A total of 107 homes are proposed for the site of the former Kent County Library.

And, he’s famously travelled around the world in 80 days but Sir Michael Palin has made a stop at a pub in Kent on an “emotional” mission.

The globetrotting broadcaster paid a visit to the county to unveil a plaque in honour of a group of arctic explorers at the site of their last farewell.