More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
What a year! It was a full 12 months ago that you crowned your hero and villain of 2019 and quite a bit has happened since - we've picked through the wreckage of 2020 and dragged out the best and worst for you to judge from a safe distance.
And while those that came to the aid of stranded truckers over the past few weeks plus many more from 2020 are undoubtedly heroic, we've chosen those who might have flown under the radar.
Scroll down to vote for your hero and villain
Villains
Ancient farmers
No one knows exactly what is causing Barming to collapse.
Evidently extensive development is not helping matters and the current 'whack-a-mole' strategy of just filling in each hole as it opens up seems ineffective.
As for what lies beneath is anyone's guess - one press officer, learned in geology, once chastised me for labelling everything a sink hole, when in fact many were mere collapses borne of artificial processes.
The same man explained many so-called sink holes were simply abandoned mines or chalk pits dug by farmers in times gone by.
But it seems unlikely anyone whose neighbourhood is crumbling beneath them would much care for the historical reasons.
Given it absolutely cannot be house builders, surveyors or planning officers that are to blame for an entire parish eroding away we'll blame our ancestors instead.
Geography
While we're at it - let's get to the root of the Brexit issue.
Britain's departure has been variously blamed on disingenuous politicians, terrible campaigning, short-sighted voters, people from mainland Europe and bendy bananas.
But what is often overlooked is geography, because if Britain didn't exist there would never have been a Brexit!
Seriously though, if it hadn't been for rising sea levels, Doggerland, which once connected Britain to Europe, wouldn't have been submerged by the north sea at some point between 6,500 and 6,200 BC and Brexit would probably never have happened!
And if it had at least we wouldn't be worrying about such inconveniences as cross-channel freight, meaning Kent probably wouldn't be facing life as an independent state due to the creation of an inland border!
And even if it was independent at least the 7,000 lorries would have more land mass to queue on!
Amazon
Amazon has been criticised over tax, or lack thereof, and accused of killing the high street for many years, but in the Garden of England the big issue is... err... muckier.
The people of Hoo, in Medway, have spent the year disgusted by delivery drivers who seem to misread their village's sign and take it as an instruction.
Consequently residents have had to put up with truckers urinating and defecating beside the road.
This comes after sat nav errors saw dozens of lorries lost outside their homes as they sought the giant new distribution centre.
The situation is yet to improve and led to a toilet protest earlier this month, with life in the shadow of Amazon showing no signs of easing up.
Ultimately what the people want is better facilities for the drivers at the Amazon depot, a small ask when you consider the company is currently valued at $1.7 trillion (£1.26tn).
That's 3,233 times more than Medway council's annual budget.
CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest person on earth and worth £135 billion.
This really is a David Vs Goliath story.
A contact with experience of these things tells me he can get a portable welfare unit of five toilets and two showers for £200 a week, meaning Mr Bezos could afford to pay for 15 toilets and six showers to line the roads of Hoo for 4,326,923 years, by which point even Amazon might be ancient history.
Wetherspoon
Pubs and restaurants have had a torrid 2020, so it may seem harsh to include Britain's largest chain of boozers.
But firstly, boss Tim Martin did not exactly cover himself in glory when lockdown was announced in March - telling 40,000 staff they wouldn't get paid until the government gave him money and advising them to instead go to work at Tesco.
And then, in December, the company really cemented its place on this list.
Swale at that point had the worst coronavirus infection rate in England and while debates around the effectiveness of lockdown are needed, pasting posters in the window of a large high street pub playing down the risks of a virus which has killed tens of thousands and threatens to cripple the NHS if left unchecked raised more than a few eyebrows in Faversham.
On the plus side Wetherspoon is something of a mecca for cheap pints and burgers, some of which come wrapped in tin foil which can double up as a neat little hat.
The owners of this hotel
If you're a hotel chain, spending seven years as the worst rated by customers should probably set alarm bells ringing.
Not, it seems, for Britannia which last month came bottom of the list for the eighth year in a row.
Quite the achievement for the company behind Folkestone's optimistically named Grand Burstin.
Consumer site Which? surveyed 4,000 customers, with Britannia receiving one star ratings in most categories.
Staying at one of the firm's budget getaways costs £58 a night on average.
One guest described one of its hotels as "a dirty hovel", while an undercover inspection of the Burstin found stained towels, stray hairs and pillows "flimsier than bookmarks".
It was also burstin' with germs, according to an experiment conducted during the trip.
The unsightly Burstin appears to be letting both views of and guests to Folkestone down.
Undercover footage of the inspection
Heroes
Covidiots
"Obviously Covidiots aren't heroes, you imbecile!" you shout.
Well, you're almost certainly right, but bear with me here.
It's been impossible to escape from the c word in 2020, and it's all got a bit much at times.
Tempers may have even flared in the WhatsApp group chat or during a 561st Zoom quiz.
So what better way to remind us all of what makes us British than drunk, shirtless men brawling on a beach or scrapping during an underground pub lock in?
Does anything make you prouder than Lobster pink alpha males throwing warm cans of Carling at each other and falling over in the sand?
The fighting men of Broadstairs and Otham may not seem like heroes to you but in a year devoid of holidays they brought the Brits Abroad mentality to Kent.
Crowds brawl on Viking Bay, Broadstairs
Fergus Wilson
Last year multi-millionaire property tycoon Fergus Wilson convincingly beat off competition from Disney, whoever covered up the Dover Banksy and an unknown crook who was ripping up books, to be named villain of the year.
Mr Wilson, 72, was once Britain's largest private landlord and regularly the subject of bizarre headlines.
It was his confession last year that as a child he would earn pocket money by beating up his peers on his Essex estate in unlicensed fight clubs that saw him secure a landslide victory in the villain category.
But this year he's enjoying a quiet retirement and has, contrary to the views of some in the comments section, not been the subject of one article since February - until now.
In the first two months of the year he was written about twice, once over allegations he'd threatened to "punch" a council worker's "head in" - which were dismissed from court but resulted in a restraining order - and then after donating £5,000 to fight pollution with flowers.
He's been shying away from controversy and it is only right that be recognised.
Sculptor Juliet Simpson, 85
Armed police descending on a quiet village after reports of a tiger on the loose only to be confronted by a life-size model sounds like a sub-plot in a Hot Fuzz sequel.
But thanks to Juliet Simpson it became a reality in May.
As a helicopter circled overhead the 85-year-old sculptor got a call from a neighbour to say a 10-strong firearms unit was approaching her rural home.
They'd already told a bewildered cyclist to pedal for his life after getting a call from ramblers to say the beast had been spotted lurking in the woods.
It turned out the big cat was in fact a resin and chicken wire model lovingly created by the grandmother two decades previously.
"It caused us all a great deal of amusement," she said as she recounted asking the officers if they would like to be introduced to the wild tiger.
Whoever agrees to chop the masts off this ship
For £5 million a lot of people would likely do an awful lot of things.
But would you hack the rusting masts off a bomb-laden ship wreck?
If you would risk being blown to smithereens, despite the financial incentive, you're at the very least something close to a hero - because you could be saving entire towns.
The SS Richard Montgomery and its 1,400 tonnes of explosives ran aground off Sheerness in 1944 while delivering supplies from America.
Some fear the munitions are still live and, as the iconic vessel decays, the prospect of a chunk of mast collapsing on to the submerged deck and sending a tsunami of water crashing towards Sheppey and Southend.
The Toy Story soundtrack
In a less than uplifting 2020 there were few more heart warming moments than hundreds of people turning out at Napier Barracks to welcome asylum seekers.
And the sight of those being held there waving back while Toy Story classic You've Got a Friend in Me boomed out meant there was barely a dry eye in the house.
Sometimes it's worth remembering living in the 'Lorry Park of England' actually makes us lucky compared to millions of people elsewhere in the world - and that only the most desperate take their lives in their hands crossing the world's busiest shipping lane in less than seaworthy vessels.
Crowds welcome asylum seekers at Napier Barracks
