Youths attacked a man in Eastbourne on Sunday, after he challenged them over anti-social behaviour.

At around 3.45am on Sunday (April 19) a man challenged a group of “rowdy” youths near Eastbourne railway station, as the group were kicking traffic cones around, shouting and making a good deal of noise.

Some five or six members of the group followed the man, 26, and his partner, 23, before attacking the man at the junction of St Anne’s Road and Enys Road, punching and kicking him before walking off up St Anne’s Road away from the town centre.

Sergeant Howard Nevill, of Eastbourne police, said, “This was a cowardly unprovoked attack on a public-spirited individual.

“Fortunately he sustained only minor injuries but the outcome could have been significantly worse.

“This is not usual for Eastbourne and we would welcome public support in identifying the offenders.”

Sergeant Nevill added, “We would not recommend people becoming directly involved in such circumstances but would advise them to contact the police.”

Anyone who saw what happened or who may know the assailants is asked to email 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk or phone 101, quoting serial 214 of 19/4.

Alternatively they can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers without having to leave their name on 0800 555 111.

Signalling problems near Balcombe are causing delays on Eastbourne to London train services this afternoon (April 24).

Southern Rail said there are delays of up to 60 minutes because of the signalling issues, which is effecting trains to and from Eastbourne, as well as from Lewes and Brighton.

The firm said, “Buses have been requested to run between Haywards Heath and Three Bridges but there is no estimate yet for when these will be available.

“There is no firm estimate yet of how long disruption will last but it is likely to continue until at least 3.30pm.

“Southern passengers may use First Great Western, London Underground, Southeastern and Thameslink services on reasonable routes.

“Thameslink passengers may use Gatwick Express and Southern services on reasonable routes.”

To check your journey, please use the National Rail Enquiries real-time Journey Planner at {http://www.nationalrail.co.uk|www.nationalrail.co.uk}.

An incident on the A259 at Hooe is causing delays between Pevensey and Bexhill this afternoon (April 24).

The road is partially blocked, and there is queueing traffic in both directions.

Sussex Police is at the scene, and said, “There is car off the road with a flat tyre and this is in a narrow area. There are no injuries reported at the time and police are at the scene. Hopefully it will be cleared shortly.”

The A21 has been criticised by East Sussex coroner Alan Craze.

The road, which is heavily used by motorists from 1066 Country, has been named as one of the most dangerous in Britain due to its high percentage of fatal and serious accidents.

Mr Craze spoke at the recent inquest of Dartford biker Mike Kemp, who died on August 27 last year near Whatlington when his 900cc Yamaha bike rounded a corner and collided with stationary traffic.

He was riding in convoy with his friend Alan Ellis, a former London Fire Brigade officer, to Hastings, where Mr Kemp had visited on family holidays.

Mr Craze said: “It (the A21) is like a narrow B-road with bends.

“We have a road that probably started out as a cart track and has now become a very busy main road.

“It is dangerous without any shadow of a doubt but I am not sure how we can sort this out.”

It is not the first time Mr Craze has commented on the A21. He spoke about the dangers in 2013 at the inquest of St Leonards man Mustafa Cicek, 36, who died when his Ford Fiesta failed to negotiate a sharp bend on the road at Whatlington.

The inquest heard from Deborah and Aldo Esposito who live on the bend and for more than a decade have called for improved safety measures following a series of serious crashes.

In 1999, an Austin Metro left the road, ploughed through a fence and landed in the couple’s garden – coming to a rest near the nursery which had been decorated in preparation for their unborn child.

Mr Craze said: “If whatever criteria this road is graded on, if someone takes the view it’s dangerous, one option would be to straighten it out with compulsory acquisition.”

He said he would write to the secretary of state for transport to ask him to look into what action can be taken to prevent further fatalities on that stretch of the A21.

An interactive electronic warning sign was installed at Whatlington in 2004, but the Highways Agency stopped short of installing a crash barrier claiming there was insufficient room. Overgrown vegetation on the road also causes a hazard by obscuring the view. Earlier this month, work begun in earnest on a £70 million project to dual a section of the A21. The Highways Agency says the scheme, between Tonbridge and Pembury, should reduce delays and accidents. Currently there is a narrow stretch of single carriageway between the two sections of dual carriageway at Pembury and Southborough which can result in congestion and long delays. Work is expected to be completed by December, 2016.

Last week I spoke about targeting your conversations online to preserve privacy and to prevent others from being annoyed by things they aren’t interested in.

Instant messages and private messages have their place in social media, but if you (like me) follow lots of interesting people and brands, your private messages can quickly become lost in a sea of information.

This may not be much of a problem for one off communications, but what if you have a series of related messages you (and your contacts) want to keep tabs on?

The solution comes in the form of groups and communities. You are probably familiar with Facebook groups, which anyone can create. There are three basic types of Facebook group, Public, Closed and Secret. Public groups are visible to everyone, whether they are members or not. Only group members can post or comment though. Closed groups are similar, in that anyone can find the group. The difference is that only members can see posts in the group. Finally Secret is just that. As the group is not discoverable to anyone other than existing members, new members must be added manually. There is no option to share a Secret group in a normal Facebook message.

One problem which many people have with Facebook groups, is the ability for members to add new members without consent. If you are a member of a group, please seek consent before adding people if at all possible, or you may risk annoying the very people you want to get involved! The ability to add people without consent is in fact part of the group creation process. Facebook will not allow you to create a group with just one member (yourself), forcing you into adding at least one other. Again, do this carefully or your group may be a non starter.

Every post to a Facebook group appears in that group’s timeline. There is no distinction between posts to differentiate them from one another. If you need to categorise posts, you will need to look elsewhere for your group communications.

In steps Google+ Communities. Similar to Facebook groups, Google+ Communities can be either Public or Private. Unlike Facebook, there is no option to force membership of a Google+ Community onto another individual and you do not need to add members before creation. Additionally, as well as personal profiles (you know, real people like you and me), brand pages can create and join Communities, which appeals to many people.

Crucially, Google+ Communities have categories. There is an ‘All posts’ view which shows everything, but moderators have the ability to add whatever categories they like. This makes finding information really simple. To use an example (and this is a nerdy one at that) you could create a private Community for a team of software developers. Bugs could be posted to a ‘Bugs’ category, feature requests could go in ‘Feature Requests’, important notices could go in ‘Notices’ and so forth. Bugs that have been fixed could be moved to a ‘Fixed’ category, thus leaving the ones that need attention clearly identifiable.

Groups and communities are fantastic places to hold discussions on specific topics. So if you find yourself regularly talking to the same people about a particular subject, you might consider creating or joining one. Communities may be focused to aid workflow, like in the software developer example, or they could be based on an interest (music, games, sport, etc.) or something else. The choice is yours.

Alan Stainer
https://www.alansitsolutions.com

Lewes Women in Business held its first networking event on Tuesday April 14 in The Hive meeting room on the High Street.

Industries including town planning, garden design, graphic design, illustration, business coaching and hypnotherapy were represented.

The next networking event will be held on Tuesday May 19 with a venue to be confirmed.

The group was founded by Chloe Edwards from Lewes start up company Seven Sisters Spices to support a growing number of female entrepreneurs in the town.

Members can meet regularly both online and in person to sound out ideas.

Chloe said: “I hope Lewes Women in Business will create a life of its own, through projects and ideas springing up and diversifying the group. It needs to become what it will become – what individuals bring to it.”

For more information, to attend a meeting and to suggest ideas, search for the group on Facebook.

The final talk in the current Burtons’ St Leonards Society lecture series will be delivered by distinguished Eastbourne architect Richard Crooke.

Mr Crooke, who is formerly of English Heritage, will talk at the Hastings Art Forum, 36 Marina, tomorrow (Monday, April 27).

An award-winning designer of sympathetic extensions to historical buildings and restorer of numerous Sussex churches, Mr Crooke has also received accolades such as the Civic Trust Commendation for his work on Harvey’s Brewery in Lewes.

Since 1980, he has been based in his home town of Eastbourne and is a partner of John D Clarke Architects.

In the specialist lecture, Crooke will discuss the Victorian development of Eastbourne from the 1850s, some 20 years after the foundation of St Leonards in 1828.

There is a Burton link between the two: the son of St Leonards’ founder, Decimus Burton, did a sketch design for ‘A Proposed New Town Called Burlington’ in the Meads area of Eastbourne in the mid 1830s.

This was never built but the final layout for the new Victorian Eastbourne was carried out by Burton’s pupil, Henry Currey, who was later to achieve distinction elsewhere, including his role as surveyor of St Thomas’ Hospital in London.

Before the lecture, members, friends and interested members of the public will meet up for a glass of wine at 7pm and usually stay on to chat, with the lecture starting shortly afterwards, at 7.30pm.

It will cost between £2.50 and £5 to attend the lecture, with the price including a glass of wine.

For further information call the honorary secretary, Christine Francis on 01424 421207.

Where is this year going to! Winter seems to have gone and the trees are turning green again.

Our wild plants are starting to flower and bats have started flying at dusk again. It’s a great time of year as our county bursts into life again and becomes so colourful and attractive. Thank you to all our volunteers who have been busy helping to return our over wintered hedgehogs back to the wild. More to go this week too.

As you may have already heard, we have had two of our hedgehogs stolen from one of our pens in Uckfield. Thieves climbed over a locked gate and entered one of our pens between 8pm Friday 17th and 11am Saturday 18th April. The hedgehogs are micro-chipped so we know who is missing. The two females, “Swimmer” and “Cherry”, have gone. There is no way they can escape from the pen, and were due to be released this week back where they were rescued from, in Heathfield and Upper Dicker. It really feels like a kick in the teeth to have them stolen. We appreciate Sussex Police visiting and investigating as some rabbits were also stolen at the same time from a garden close by. Sadly the breeding of hedgehogs for sale is becoming more common. It is normally the African hedgehogs but some people have started breeding from wild European hedgehogs and trying to sell them. If anyone has any information please contact Sussex Police.

We have been extremely busy, starting with a major rescue to catch a distressed duck dumped on Decoy Pond, Hampden Park. After 11 call-outs and failing to catch the duck from the bank, we decided to launch a major rescue to catch the duck. Being spring we have been reluctant to do so because of the nesting waterfowl, so before we could commence a rescue we had to check the area we were going to work in to ensure we didn’t cause any problems. The dumped white Aylesbury duck which was one of a pair dumped on the pond, was being attacked by the swan and other ducks and was in a bit of a state. Rescuers Chris, Dave, Daryl, Kirsti and I took our small inflatable boat, our drysuit and long catch net, and on our third attempt at capture the duck was caught on one of the islands. The duck has gone up to the Swan Sanctuary and is now with the other white Aylesbury duck which was rescued at Piltdown Pond a few weeks ago. It is so cruel, unfair and illegal to dump domestic ducks into the wild like this, the females really struggle at this time of year.

This week has seen more baby and young wildlife casualties coming into care including a young Dunnock from Seaford. I rushed to assess a baby fox in a garden in Old Town, Eastbourne. Sadly the poor cub had a badly injured rear leg which was infected and covered in fly eggs. Despite trying our best the poor cub passed away. WRAS rescuers were also called to a baby badger found between Amberstone and Cowbeech. She was found in the middle of the road wandering alone. After examination no injuries were found. I met our rescuers at our Casualty Centre to assess her and then transported her up to Badger Cub expert Annette Risley at Folly Wildlife Rescue near Tunbridge Wells.

A big thank you to the Mayor of Uckfield Ian Smith for raising £365 for WRAS at his charity dinner a few weeks ago. Thank you also to Ringmer Parish Council for making a grant of £100 to East Sussex WRAS. This is all very much appreciated and very much needed.

I attended a rescue late at night after a Jackdaw became stuck in a wood burning fire at a property in Cross in Hand. The bird had already been caught by the time I arrived and had minor burn damage to some wing feathers. The bird was taken to our Casualty Centre for rest and observation but released after test flying a couple of days later.

A policeman from Hailsham has been left paralysed after a tragic accident while on holiday in Portugal.

Thirty-year-old Luke Stanwick was left fighting for his life in a medically-induced coma.

He was hospitalised in Portugal without the use of both legs and may never walk again.

He underwent extensive surgery in Lisbon and is paralysed from the waist down after suffering fractures to two vertebrae in his neck.

PC Stanwick was on holiday with his wife Jenny and their two-year-old son Nathan when the accident happened.

Mrs Stanwick said, “He is my rock, my hero and most of all the man I adore without question.

“Luke is outgoing and fun to be around and makes me smile every day, even now in our darkest moment together.

“He will fight to the ends of the earth to recover as much as he physically can for both me and our son, as well as the rest of his family.”

A donation page, set up by close friend and former Metropolitan Police colleague Alison Cat, has collected more than £8,000 so far.

It reached a staggering £5,000 in the first day as colleagues at Sussex Police and officers all over the country rallied together using the hashtag £MayTheForceBeWithU.

Emergency services were called to a house in Seaford where a man was found dead this morning (April 27).

Sussex Police said, “At 10.13am on Monday (April 27) police were called to a house in Elgin Gardens, Seaford, after concerns had been raised for the welfare of the sole occupant, a 66-year-old man, who had not been seen for some days.

“Due to a smell of gas the fire service were called but there is no leak and the gas seems now to have dissipated.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious and the coroner’s officer will be continuing enquiries.”

A new link road that could make it easier for Eastbourne residents to travel to Hastings is taking shape.

The road, from Bexhill to Hastings, is designed to boost the economy and relieve traffic congestion on the A259.

The news will be welcomed by Eastbourne residents, many of whom have had to endure the overcrowded A259 while travelling to the Conquest Hospital, in Hastings, following the transfer of services from the Eastbourne DGH.

The move to British Summer Time has enabled longer working days for contractors working on the link road and the project team is hoping the road will open later this year.

Bob Pape, the link road project director for East Sussex County Council, said, “We are now seeing good progress along the route of the road and significant areas are coming close to completion.

“In the next few months we expect to see a major transformation of the site.”

The exact opening date is dependent on a range of factors including the weather, deliveries by suppliers, unforeseen technical issues and seasonally restricted environmental work.

Projects completed this month include the surfacing work and road markings at Belle Hill, where the new road joins London Road, and lighting has been installed at the new Chapel Path underpass.

Environmental barriers have been installed along the tops of the railway cutting and slope stabilisation works are underway.

The construction of the replacement Ninfield Road bridge is rapidly taking shape with the bridge deck concrete pours due soon. The utilities are due to be installed over the next few months.

Across the entire site landscaping work is in progress, including the planting of new shrubs and trees and lighting is being installed at Queensway at the Hastings end of the new road.

Next month work is expected to begin on improvements to the existing Crowhurst Road. A temporary traffic control system will be in place while parts of the road are realigned and the county council’s highways team carry out pothole repairs.

The new link road is expected to help bring 2,000 new homes, 3,000 new jobs and more than £1 billion of economic benefits to the area.

A man from St Leonards who was arrested on suspicion of murdering Jason Martin-Smith and conspiracy to murder Jimmy Millen has been released without any further action.

Detectives arrested the man on February 25 following an investigation into the murders of Mr Martin-Smith and Mr Millen in 2001. Four arrests were made. Mark Searle, 36, from St Leonards, was charged with the murder of Mr Martin-Smith as well as conspiracy to kidnap and perverting the course of justice. Steve McNicol, 42, from Hastings, was charged with the murder of Mr Martin-Smith and conspiracy to kidnap. They will appear before Lewes Crown Court on May 22 to plead. A 46-year-old St Leonards man who was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder Mr Millen was released on bail until May 21.

Sussex Police has launched an appeal for witnesses to an assault on a woman in her 30s who was attacked in Eastbourne.

At about 5.30pm, on Sunday, March 15, a woman from Eastbourne was driving her black Vauxhall Mokka along the B2191 Willingdon Drove and stopped at a mini roundabout behind a blue Honda Civic.

A woman, who was a passenger in the Honda, got out, pulled open the victim’s door and allegedly spat in her face.

The suspect is described as a white woman, in her early 30s, 5’4”, of slim build and with blonde hair. She was wearing a dark coat with a light top underneath, light coloured trousers and dark boots.

PC Lisa Howes, of Eastbourne police, said, “The victim was very distressed and rightly concerned about the health implications of this attack.

“This was a frightening and unprovoked incident and we would be grateful if anyone in the area at the time would contact police if they saw what happened or noticed either vehicle beforehand.”

Anyone with information should email 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk or phone 101, quoting serial 992 of 15/3. Alternatively they can call the independent charity Crimestoppers without having to leave their name on 0800 555 111.

Sussex Police released the information of this incident on Tuesday April 28.

Sussex Police said 14-year-old Reece Pateman has been found safe and well in London.

He had last been seen at his St Leonards home at 1.20pm on Sunday (April 26),and police had issued an appeal for his whereabouts on Monday (April 27).

Police investigating the collision at Newick in which an 80-year-old Heathfield man died have renewed their appeal for witnesses.

William Swanson, known as Iain, from Bracken Way, Broad Oak, died on Thursday, April 2, when his Renault Megane was in collision with a tanker on the A272 Goldbridge Road at Newick around 1pm.

PC Stuart Watson said: “We are particularly interested to hear from the driver of a vehicle that may have been in the process of being overtaken heading east towards Piltdown around the time.

“Please email collision.appeal@sussex.pnn.police.uk or call 101 quoting Operation Southall.”

Technology that enables faster sharing of vital information about a motorcyclist or cyclist involved in an accident is being rolled out with the help of a road safety group.

The Sussex Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP), made up of local authorities and emergency services, is supporting the rollout of QR code stickers that carry personal information about the rider.

The stickers are designed to be fixed to a crash helmet and can be scanned by emergency services for personal and medical information.

Graeme Beattie, road safety officer at East Sussex County Council, said: “Any opportunity to provide first responders and the emergency services with marginal gains in the golden hour after a road traffic incident has to be supported. It is fundamental to find practical ways for road users to be able to share medical or personal information in critical situations, and we believe that these stickers provide an easy and up-to-date approach that can help towards increasing the likelihood of a positive outcome in such situations.”

The iCEQR (In Case of Emergency Quick Response) stickers have been produced by CERQL – a company with expertise in this field of technology – and will be handed out to motorcyclists and cyclists.

iCEQRs contain a QR code which, once scanned, reveal critical personal or medical details of the individual to first responders or the emergency services.

On receipt of an iCEQR sticker, the rider or road user uploads details to the Internet via a personalised and secure web document, which can be updated at any time.

In conjunction with this initiative, from April 2015 South East Coast Ambulance Service (NHS) will be issued with computer tablets pre-installed with QR readers.

Throughout 2015, SSRP will be demonstrating and educating motorcyclists/cyclists at events across the region on the use of technology to enable faster sharing of critical personal information in emergencies, with free iCEQR stickers being given out to the first 5000 visitors to their stand. More information about the initiative can be found at the May Day Bike Run on Monday.

For more online information visit www.sussexsaferroads.gov.uk

Thousands of blank ballot papers for the parliamentary and borough elections next Thursday are missing after the van bringing them from the printers to Eastbourne was stolen.

Almost 250,000 blank papers for voters to fill in when they go to the polls to elect an MP and 27 new councillors on Eastbourne Borough Council are missing along with parliamentary ballot papers for Hastings.

A council spokesperson said the exact details of how the van was stolen or where from remained a mystery but police are investigating.

The spokesperson said, “We have been informed that the printer’s van delivering the ballot papers for Eastbourne’s Parliamentary and Borough elections has been stolen along with all the contents.

“Effectively, this means that all the ballot papers intended for use at polling stations on May 7 are in circulation and in the possession of persons unknown.

“This is, of course, a criminal offence and a police matter. We are not yet aware of the details around the theft. However, we have to assume that the ballot papers on board the van will not be retrieved and, as a priority, take action as appropriate.

“The two key issues to resolve here are securing a replacement supply of ballot papers to ensure that the election goes ahead and eliminating any chance of electoral fraud by persons seeking to use the stolen ballots.

“The printers will, as a matter of urgency, be producing and delivering a full replacement set of Parliamentary and Borough ballots. There will, of course, be a delay in the originally anticipated date of receipt but we are confident that we will have sufficient time to fully check and process the ballots in time for election day.

“On the issue of preventing fraud the original ballot papers were in two distinct colours to differentiate between the Parliamentary and Borough ballots, the replacement batch will be printed on new distinct colours, again different for the Parliamentary and the Borough ballots.

“The new colours have been chosen partly, as time is of the essence, because those colours are in stock at the printers and immediately available, but mostly because they are distinctly different from the original colours used.

“This will mean that if anyone places one of the original ballot papers from the stolen batch in a ballot box on election day, it will be easily detected at the count and removed.

“One unavoidable anomaly is that the previously issued postal vote ballot papers are on the original colours and can be posted or handed in at a polling station right up to close of poll on May 7. However, these ballots have to be returned with the associated paperwork and go through a rigorous scanning process separate to the other ballots. They are not placed in ballot boxes at the polling stations.

“We are confident that the above mitigations will be sufficient to ensure the accurate and successful completion of the elections.”

Mystery surrounds the disappearance of thousands of blank ballot papers for Eastbourne and Hastings which went missing when a van was stolen on Tuesday night.

The ballot papers had been produced at a printing firm in Dagenham, Essex, which had been contracted to do the printing by Electoral Reform Services.

They had been loaded in to a van ready to be driven to Eastbourne and Hastings but police say that on Tuesday night (April 28) the van was stolen.

It is not yet known how or where the van was stolen but it is not believed to have left the county of Essex.

The ballot papers stolen were 130,000 destined for Eastbourne for voters to fill in on Thursday May 7 in the parliamentary and borough elections plus an estimated 70,000 for Hastings voters for just the parliamentary election.

Now thousands of fresh ballot papers, in different colours from the original ones stolen, will have to be printed and delivered in time for the elections.

A spokesperson at Electoral Reform Services said the organisation would not be commenting at this stage and was in touch with returning offices at the councils affected.

A spokesperson at Eastbourne Borough Council said this afternoon the theft meant that all the ballot papers intended for use at polling stations on May 7 are in circulation and in the possession of persons unknown.

“This is, of course, a criminal offence and a police matter,” said the spokesperson.

“We are not yet aware of the details around the theft. However, we have to assume that the ballot papers on board the van will not be retrieved and, as a priority, take action as appropriate.

“The two key issues to resolve here are securing a replacement supply of ballot papers to ensure that the election goes ahead and eliminating any chance of electoral fraud by persons seeking to use the stolen ballots.

“The printers will, as a matter of urgency, be producing and delivering a full replacement set of Parliamentary and Borough ballots. There will, of course, be a delay in the originally anticipated date of receipt but we are confident that we will have sufficient time to fully check and process the ballots in time for election day.”

For more stories on the theft click {http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/local/breaking-news-blank-eastbourne-election-ballot-papers-stolen-in-van-theft-1-6716437|here}

With around 250,000 ballot papers for Eastbourne’s parliamentary and borough elections missing, we look at why ballots are so important.

Casting ballots dates all the way back to Ancient Greece, but ballot papers were first used by the Romans.

Since then, ballots have been popular in casting votes on a number of matters.

In the UK, ballot papers are used in elections - and voters mark their one chosen candidate in the first-post-the-post system of voting.

The ballot paper lists all of the candidates standing in the constituency or ward, alongside the party they are standing for.

On election day ballots are filled out in the privacy of a polling booth and then sealed into the ballot box until they are ready to be counted.

Although ballots do not have the electorates name on them, they do contain a serial number which links to that person, to make sure people aren’t fraudulently casting more than one vote.

However, it is illegal to trace votes and identify how someone has voted.

The ballot papers which were stolen today (April 29), were for both the Eastbourne parliamentary and borough elections, and were printed in two different colours to distinguish them from each other.

Now, the ballots will have to be reprinted in different colours, so the stolen ballots cannot be used fraudulently on May 7.

For more on the stolen ballots, see below.

Blank Eastbourne election ballot papers stolen in van theft

{http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/local/breaking-news-blank-eastbourne-election-ballot-papers-stolen-in-van-theft-1-6716437|www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/local/breaking-news-blank-eastbourne-election-ballot-papers-stolen-in-van-theft-1-6716437}

Stolen ballot papers will be replace in time for election, says Eastbourne council

{http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/local/stolen-ballot-papers-will-be-replaced-in-time-for-election-says-eastbourne-council-1-6716787|www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/local/stolen-ballot-papers-will-be-replaced-in-time-for-election-says-eastbourne-council-1-6716787}

Mystery of stolen Eastbourne ballot papers

{http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/mystery-of-stolen-eastbourne-ballot-papers-1-6716776|www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/mystery-of-stolen-eastbourne-ballot-papers-1-6716776}

The theft of thousands of blank ballot papers for Eastbourne’s Parliamentary and Borough elections isn’t the only concerning case of its kind.

In November 2014, police in Scotland launched an investigation into the alleged theft of documents, including unused referendum ballot papers, in East Lothian, near Edinburgh.

A video posted on Facebook showed a person with the papers, which it is claimed were found beside a bin outside East Lothian Council’s headquarters in Haddington.

At the time, the council rejected the claim and said the papers were removed from a storage room.

East Lothian chief executive and returning officer Angela Leitch said the matter was “extremely concerning” and both the police and the council were looking into it.

Ballot papers for Eastbourne’s Parliamentary and Borough elections are having to be reprinted just a week before the election after a printer’s van delivering the blank papers was stolen on Wednesday, April 29.

Ballot papers are also having to be reprinted for handfuls of Telscombe and Peacehaven residents and postal voters in Hull following major errors.

Brighton and Hove City Council has today (April 29) told postal voters in Peacehaven and Telscombe to destroy any green ballot papers delivered to their addresses as these papers, for Lewes District Council, were distributed to the area by mistake.

Fortunately, the error was spotted in time and new packs with the correct ballot papers for the town councils are hurriedly being issued.

In Hull, the council sent out a large batch of postal ballot papers to the Hull East constituency which have omitted the names of the Labour candidate Karl Turner (the sitting MP) and the Green candidate Sarah Walpole.

The problem was brought to Turner’s attention this morning (April 29) when postal voters started phoning his office to enquire why he wasn’t standing for election again. It is understood the problem affected 484 postal ballots but the Hull City Council returning officer has reassured voters these papers have already been recalled and the issue is being dealt with speedily.

To view the original story, click {http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/local/breaking-news-blank-eastbourne-election-ballot-papers-stolen-in-van-theft-1-6716437|here}.