:00:11. > :00:20.Two families have been left homeless after a fire in Kent. It
:00:20. > :00:23.broke out on Christmas Day in Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppey.
:00:23. > :00:28.Fire investigators say it was probably caused by a discarded
:00:28. > :00:33.cigarette, as Peter Whittlesea reports. This CCTV footage shows
:00:33. > :00:39.the start of a fire on Christmas Day. Two families have been forced
:00:39. > :00:44.to leave their homes. Paps Alison says of her 13-year-old son had not
:00:44. > :00:48.raised the alarm so quickly the situation would have been far worse.
:00:48. > :00:52.I could have been coming out in a body bag because I was upstairs
:00:52. > :00:56.asleep in the back bedroom. Kent Fire and Rescue said the fire
:00:56. > :01:01.started on his property, the likely cause was a carelessly discarded
:01:01. > :01:05.cigarette, it then spread to the neighbouring house. The intensity
:01:05. > :01:10.of the heat was so great it melted electrical wiring and a gas pipe
:01:10. > :01:16.into the house. That then started leaking and fuelled the fire. The
:01:16. > :01:20.fire started in serene a's garden, today she was packing up and moving
:01:20. > :01:26.out so repairs can be done. But she will never forget the moment she
:01:26. > :01:33.returned on Christmas Day to see her house on fire. When we pulled
:01:33. > :01:36.up I felt sick. Shaking, I couldn't believe it. She has been found
:01:36. > :01:39.temporary accommodation but because her neighbours rented from a
:01:39. > :01:49.private landlord they are staying with relatives until their home can
:01:49. > :01:50.
:01:50. > :01:53.Five people have been arrested after a man was attacked from
:01:53. > :01:56.behind and stabbed in the throat in Sussex. It happened last night, as
:01:56. > :02:02.the victim walked past a church in Crawley. He's in a stable condition
:02:02. > :02:04.at the East Surrey Hospital in The family of a Kent serviceman
:02:04. > :02:06.killed by an explosion in Afghanistan say they'll treasure
:02:06. > :02:09.the memories and achievements of a fantastic life. Squadron Leader
:02:09. > :02:12.Anthony Downing was flown home after the explosion last Thursday
:02:12. > :02:14.but died the following day. He was 34. Before joining the RAF he was
:02:14. > :02:24.an active member of the Dover Grammar School Combined Cadet Force
:02:24. > :02:27.
:02:27. > :02:30.as well as cycling and running clubs in Deal. Sussex Police
:02:30. > :02:35.officers and civilian workers have been told not to charge their
:02:35. > :02:38.personal mobile phones or other electrical appliances at work. The
:02:38. > :02:42.force is looking to save �50 million by the year 2015 and says
:02:42. > :02:45.the ban will help to cut its electricity bill. A midwife from
:02:45. > :02:48.Kent had to put her professional skills to the test by delivering
:02:48. > :02:55.her own baby daughter, after the speed of her labour took everyone
:02:55. > :02:58.by surprise. Claire Clarke-Wood gave birth in her bathroom in
:02:58. > :03:08.Hawkhurst, using a hand-held mirror to help deliver baby Esmay, who was
:03:08. > :03:09.
:03:09. > :03:15.born three weeks early. Fiona She has delivered thousands of
:03:15. > :03:19.babies at work but never expected to deliver her own. On December
:03:19. > :03:24.11th Claire Clarke-Wood's contractions came on fast. Her baby
:03:24. > :03:30.daughter was not going to hang around. About 6:30am they got
:03:30. > :03:35.really strong and regular and I thought I should check to see what
:03:35. > :03:41.stage we were at. We did, then I realised we were further Ron then I
:03:41. > :03:46.realised. So we rang the midwife and realised Esmay was on her way,
:03:46. > :03:55.then she arrived with the aid of my mother's make-up mirror guiding me
:03:55. > :04:02.through. It was really amazing, really special. For Dad, Tim, there
:04:02. > :04:07.was not much time or need to be scared. If anyone could deliver
:04:07. > :04:10.their own baby it would be the superwoman called my wife. It was
:04:10. > :04:18.not possible to love this woman more than I did, I did not think it
:04:18. > :04:23.possible, but after watching what she did, I am overwhelmed by how
:04:23. > :04:28.amazing my wife is! The family planned to emigrate to Australia in
:04:28. > :04:38.new year but coming three weeks early, Esmay made sure she spent at
:04:38. > :04:45.least one Christmas in Kent. I hope my baby was not getting any funny
:04:45. > :04:48.ideas watching that! Wildlife experts in Kent are caring for
:04:48. > :04:51.dormice at risk of dying in the cold winter weather because they're
:04:51. > :04:54.too small to go into hibernation. They're among Britain's most
:04:54. > :05:02.endangered animals, and, as Dan Maclaren reports, the South East is
:05:02. > :05:06.their last remaining stronghold. Inspecting a letter of dormice
:05:06. > :05:10.reset -- rescued from the winter. Because of the late winter many
:05:10. > :05:14.dormice had a batch of young he could not hibernate so this
:05:14. > :05:20.wildlife centre near Canterbury is doing all it can for protected
:05:20. > :05:25.species. Most of our dormice are fast asleep outside underground but
:05:25. > :05:28.the animals in here are orphans, or underweight from this year that
:05:28. > :05:37.have to be looked after because they are not heavy enough to
:05:37. > :05:40.hibernate. 15.5 grams, very good, she has put weight on. The young
:05:40. > :05:45.are often weighed to check if they are growing, or 20 brought to the
:05:45. > :05:50.centre were found to be underweight. They are being fed a special diet.
:05:50. > :05:53.The centre's work with them does not stop there. A we are keeping
:05:53. > :06:00.them through the year because if we let them hibernate they will
:06:00. > :06:05.probably die, so we feed them and they will have babies next year and
:06:05. > :06:09.we will reintroduce those babies to sites where they have gone.
:06:09. > :06:13.They are one of our most endangered species. It is hoped through the
:06:13. > :06:19.use of nest boxes they can gradually be reintroduced to the
:06:19. > :06:29.Midlands and northern Britain where they have suffered habitat loss in
:06:29. > :06:32.
:06:32. > :06:36.The wind has been mild so far. Will it stay mild? -- the winter. It was
:06:36. > :06:41.showery and windy today. Increasingly dry, so to Morrow has
:06:41. > :06:50.a dry start which will be short lived by the afternoon. It will be
:06:50. > :06:53.increasingly wet. Today, blustery winds picking up, showers and low
:06:53. > :06:58.pressure in control of things. Top temperatures around 8, 9 degrees.
:06:58. > :07:01.As we move through tonight the showers will be lingering initially,
:07:01. > :07:06.eventually clearing, leaving us with clear skies and the
:07:06. > :07:09.temperatures will then drop to lows of three, four degrees. We start
:07:09. > :07:14.tomorrow with some ground frost and brightness, particularly in Kent,
:07:14. > :07:21.but this warm front will spread eastwards with heavier pulses of
:07:21. > :07:26.rain. The isobars have widened, the winds will ease off. Increasingly
:07:26. > :07:33.wet by the afternoon, temperatures raising -- ranging between six and
:07:33. > :07:36.a decrease. It will feel cooler. The rain clears and it will be a
:07:36. > :07:46.cloudy, mild picture with temperatures hardly changing from