Message from the Kent Police Romney Marsh Beat Officer

Published: 10 February 2025

 PC Steve Putland, our local Police Constable and Folkestone Neighbourhood Beat Officer has sent the following message...

"On the 30/01/2025 I posted a message on here about three incidents over the last couple of months regarding laser pointers/pens being shone at the Coastguard's aircraft, two over Lydd and one over Newchurch.

Unfortunately there has been a fourth incident that took place at approximately 18:00 on 02/02/2025 as an aircraft was directly over Lydd airport.

If anyone has any information about this please contact me at 13183@kent.police.uk.

If the person responsible is reading this, you need to stop this extremely dangerous act with immediate effect. I am more than happy to speak with you if you are unsure about the law regarding the use of laser pointers/pens, you can contact me on the email above.

We have also had a couple of reports of door to door salespersons aka ‘Nottingham Knockers’ in the St Mary's Bay and Dymchurch areas on 05/02/2025.

In one of the incidents the two males didn't knock at the resident's door but the resident reported the suspicious behaviour to us including the uninsured vehicle that they were seen to get into, they also had with them large holdalls which is the normal thing for the door sellers to have. In the other incident, the male showed the resident what was believed to be his ID however, because the resident was suspicious of it and had read my previous ‘My Community Voice’ post about this activity and what type of ID should be shown, the resident did not engage further with him and he left, well done and thank you to both residents for their vigilance and reporting these incidents to us!

The information below is what is required to go door to door selling.

Eligibility for a pedlar’s certificate

To apply you need to:

· be 17 or over

· have lived in the local authority where you’re applying for at least 28 days

How to apply

Apply for a pedlar’s certificate at your local police station. You need to take:

· 2 photos of you

· a form of identity, eg a passport or driving licence

· proof of your address

· details of a referee

The certificate costs £12.25 and lasts 1 year.

Fines and penalties

You must produce your certificate if someone asks to see it.

If you work as a pedlar without a certificate - or let someone else use yours - you could be fined up to £200.

You could also get a prison sentence of up to 6 months if you either:

· give false information when you apply

· make or carry a forged certificate

Thank you.

Steve."