Kentish Express Ashford & District
WarningS
Walkers are regularly warned to stay away from the edge of the cliffs, particularly with the risk of them crumbling underfoot.
HM Coastguard says that the cliffs along the entire UK coastline are continually eroding, with pieces falling suddenly.
A spokesman said: “We’ve seen a number of cliff collapses around the coast. We really can’t stress enough how important it is to keep back from the edge.
“Don’t be tempted to go and investigate and don’t risk going to the edge to get a dramatic picture, no selfie or photograph is worth risking your life for.”
Walkers are advised to stick to designated paths and note warming signs.
In January 2013 several tonnes of chalk collapsed near Dover Eastern Docks. Last October a member of staff from the Langdon Coastguard station photographed a youth teetering on one foot on a fence post just over an 80ft drop. Lighthouse at St Margaret’s-atCliffe.
The 83-year-old who lives in Canterbury Road is well known in Ashford as a road-safety campaigner.
He had been walking with his niece, Irene, and her daughter, Emilia, 14.
What do you think? Write to Kentish Express, Unit 4, Park Mall shopping centre, Ashford TN24 8RY or email kentishexpress@thekmgroup. co.uk A man from Ashford is fighting for justice for his father, who died from after being treated with contaminated blood.
Tim Wratten’s father - Peter Wratten - was a haemophiliac who was infected with hepatitis C in about 1984.
He was suffering from a bleed in his stomach and was injected with Factor VIII to treat it. However the injection was contaminated - like so many during that period.
However, it wasn’t until 20 years later, in 2001, that Peter Wratten found out he had been infected.
His son Tim said: “I found out about dad when I was 16. The Department of Health wrote to everyone and dad received a letter saying he was at risk of hepatitis C.
“We just thought it was normal as kids, until dad got the letter.
“It answers a lot of questions about the way he was, the virus was doing things to him that he didn’t know about.
“Within ten years of finding out he had been infected, my dad was dead,” said Tim.
“The toxins from his liver were going to his brain and it started going downhill very quickly, he became incontinent.
“He had a fall and from that it progressed really quickly. He was just bleeding everywhere on the inside, the nurse showed me a scan, there was so much blood.”
Peter Wratten died in 2011 at the age of 54.
Unfortunately that wasn’t the only tragedy for the family.
Peter’s brothers were also haemophiliacs and had been infected around the same time period. They all died within months of each other.
Now Tim is fighting for justice for his family, against those responsible for the scandal.
“I looked up to my dad. The day he died I felt like part of me was gone. Every day is hard. I’ve got 12 years of doctors’ notes for my dad but the others have all disappeared.
“For the last two years I’ve been pushing really hard to get justice. It’s not about the money. I just want the documents and the truth.
“I have so many unanswered questions that need to be answered to bring closure.
“No one can replace what’s happened. I’d rather have no money at all. I just want my dad back.”
The government has launched an inquiry into the scandal in order to finally bring justice to the thousands of people who were infected.
A Department of Health spokesperson said: “We know this tragedy has caused unimaginable hardship and pain for those affected and so have increased annual spend on payments to record levels since 2015, committing an additional £125 million in funding for support.
“We have also published all the information we hold on blood safety from the period 1970 until 1995 because we want to be fully transparent. We would happily look at additional sources of information or evidence going forward.”