BOTH Kent County Council and Medway council have joined the micro-blogging website Twitter, with both indicating that it is a natural development as the digital revolution and the proliferation of social networking sites changes the way we choose to receive and access information.

We’re not entirely sure who got there first.

Medway council link text put out a press release trumpeting its appearance on Twitter last week, with council deputy leader Alan Jarrett saying in characteristic press office-speak that “it's important the council provides information to residents in a way that suits them…Twitter is another tool to ensure we continue to communicate with residents, while helping put Medway on the map by spreading information about news and events to a wider audience.”

Yesterday, the county council’s diligent press office sent a note alerting me to its own presence but was – rather uncharacteristically - rather more low key about the whole thing. Perhaps it realised that Medway had stolen a march on it, depriving it of a chance to say that it was "leading the way".

I’ve been down at Eurotunnel in Folkestone this morning covering a visit by the immigration minister Phil Woolas.

He was signing a “border security agreement” between the company and the UK Border Agency.

Naturally, the press wanted to ask him about what was happening across the channel at Sangatte with the new camp that has emerged with hundreds of would-be migrants. His line was that more needed to be done to deport them but refrained from having a go at the French authorities. I’ll be posting a story on www.kentonline.co.uklater today.

He dutifully posed for pictures with one of the dogs used by Customs to search vehicles, saying after: “I knew that you’d want that picture.” It turns out he used to be a journalist before entering politics and worked for TVS – the independent company that was the precursor to Meridian.