Thamesteel workers angered by recruitment drive withdrawal

There is anger on Sheerness after an engineering company offering to recruit at least 80 sacked workers from Thamesteel pulled out of a planned recruitment drive.

Some of the 350 workers made redundant from the Sheerness steelmaker had planned to attend a jobs presentation this morning, led by Crown House Technologies based in Dartford.

Their withdrawal was announced in a simply worded statement from its parent company Laing O'Rouke, saying: "Crown House Technology will not be attending a meeting tomorrow in relation to Thamesteel."

We are joined by local councillor Ken Pugh, and Branch President of Community Union Tom Butler, who explain how this will affect the Thamesteel employees (07.07).

Pat Wiggins, Branch Secretary of Community Union which represents workers at the plant, adds his insight by revealing some workers cannot afford a suit for any potential job interviews (08.07).

Also on the programme, she went to her GP surgery three times, and three times doctors told her she needed to be referred to a specialist for treatment for bowel cancer. Pamela Stone from Rainham never received that referral and died in 2008 aged just 54.

Her son is now calling for tighter controls on GPs, after the family won an out of court settlement.

We get more information on the failings that led to Pamela's death by speaking to the family's solicitor, Paul Sankey, and Dr. James Thallon, Medical Director of the NHS Kent and Medway (07.22).

And Kent is currently in danger of a severe drought, having been through the driest 12 months in succession since 1976.

Bewl Water reservoir, which would normally be full at this time of year, is currently only at 42% capacity.

Our environment correspondent Yvette Austin reports on how companies are installing more water meters, a move that reduces water consumption but also drives up customers' bills (06.41).