by Alan Smith

Commuters were out in Maidstone's town centre at the weekend drumming up support for the Keep Our Trains campaign.
They are angry at Southeastern’s timetable changes that will see the abolition of the off-peak service from Maidstone East to Cannon Street from December.
Campaigner Huw Whitethread said: "It was surprising how many people knew nothing about the planned cuts. Once we told them what was going on, they were very supportive, with many promising to write to the MP over the issue.” Two Keep Our Trains organisers, Mr Whitethread and Matthew Nash, met Southeastern’s area manager Vince Lucas to discus the matter last week, but failed to persuade him to change his mind.
Mr Whitethread said: "Mr Lucas made it clear that Southeastern was not going to reinstate the service unless instructed to do so by the Department For Transport.
"He accepted there was some justification, especially to run the 16.14 and 19.14 return services from London, but he said they couldn’t do so unless they received a subsidy.
"The campaign now is very much focused on getting the DfT to bring pressure to bear and we are first asking supporters to write to their MP so that they have evidence of demand to take to Lord Adonis, the Transport Minister.”
With more than 700 passengers signing an online petition, Mr Whitethread said the campaign was already a success. He said: "We’ve never had an active rail users group on the Maidstone East route, so our needs have been easily overlooked.
"It’s no accident that Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells, where there have been strong user groups, have kept far better services.
"But hopefully, with so many Maidstone and Malling passengers getting together across this issue, we will have a voice in the future."
Supporters can sign the petition and get MPs' addresses at www.keepourtrains.com