STICKY yellow lines put down to enforce a parking ban were not blown away, but were actually ripped up and stolen, it has been claimed.

Sarah Hudson, who is chairman of the parish council at Wateringbury, near Maidstone, said that plastic lines put along Bow Road, Wateringbury, last week did not blow away as has been reported. Instead, they were taken away by youths.

She said: "This was nothing to do with the weather. There wasn't even any wind over the weekend. Someone has ripped them up and taken them, along with four or five traffic cones."

The lines were put down last Monday to stop cars parking along Bow Road - a main route between Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone - while the village's Tonbridge Road was shut for gas mains replacement.

Mrs Hudson, who lives in Tonbridge Road, said teenagers were spotted by a council member playing with the temporary tape a day or so after it was put down.

She added: "It's very irritating for the contractors. They are trying to do their job as quickly as they can and a very small minority of idiots who seem to think that messing with things is great fun are making their job more difficult."

The gas mains replacement is expected to take at least another six weeks.

For the full story see this Friday's Kent Messenger