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.Perfume recovered from the wreck of the Titanic is being recreated by an employee of Quest in Ashford.
In January David Pybus heard of a salvage company's discovery near the wreck of the Titanic during a diving expedition. A leather case had been found by the salvage team on the sea bed by the wreck. When brought to the surface, the case was found to contain 120 samples of perfumes and aromatic products sealed in glass bottles. The case belonged to Adolphe Saalfeld, a German perfumer living in Manchester, who was taking the samples to America to seek his fortune. Mr Saalfeld survived the sinking of the Titanic and later returned to England. David, 53, contacted the salvage company, named RMS Titanic Inc after the ship which sank in 1912, to discuss the perfumes. As a successful author of books on perfumes, chemistry and history, David, from Saltwood, realised the importance of the samples. He and colleague Neil Owen, from Burmash, visited America to meet the operations director of the salvagers. The aromatics were examined and a deal struck for Quest International to reproduce the perfumes. Neil and David flew back with the samples on April 12 - the 89th anniversary of the sailing of the Titanic on her maiden voyage from Southampton. David said: "We have won exclusive rights to recreate the aromatic finds from the Titanic. We only have eight samples at the moment. The rest are being retrieved from the sealed glass bottles in Michigan. It's like forensic science. We only need a few drops of perfume to put into our scanning equipment, and then we can identify all the ingredients and create the perfume again". Once the perfume is recreated, it will be passed on to a perfume or cosmetics company to be produced and sold as a prestige fragrance. David added: "In 1912, quality in perfume really meant quality. The samples may contain rare and expensive ingredients. It is remarkable to think these perfumes lay at the bottom of the sea for all those years and we can soon recreate them". David lectures widely on aspects of science, and teaches a course entitled Making Sense of Scents at Ashford Adult Education Centre between November and February every year. David's new book, Scents of Time, is in preparation and is a history of lost perfumes. It includes the Titanic perfume story.

DUNGENESS A nuclear power station
 has been given permission to restart one of its reactors after a six week overhaul. The station's other reactor is still shut following a fierce blaze last month in an associated turbine engine. Station manager Bill Root said: "The reactor has been undergoing its two-yearly overhaul. Staff have been working very hard at returning the unit to power and we are all delighted that their labours have come to fruition." Permission to restart was given by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, Dungeness A's regulator.

THE latest edition of the Ashford borough guide is now available.
It offers useful information on business, housing, shopping, leisure, sport and borough history, as well as fully indexed street maps. Copies can be bought for £1.25 from the civic centre, Ashford and Tenterden tourist information centres and the designer outlet village's visitor information centre.

ASHFORD firefighters want people to be vigilant after a spate of rubbish fires in the area. There were 11 fires between Friday and Wednesday morning, and firefighters want people to be careful when discarding cigarettes. The fire brigade has been called to a number of serious accidents in the last few days, and fear rubbish fires could mean they miss important calls. A spokesman warned the dry weather is making it easier for rubbish bins and grassland to catch fire. He also asked people to refrain from making malicious calls after a call was made on Monday around the time of a crash on the M20. He said there was no fire and it could have delayed 
the crews in getting to the accident.

A MAN suffering from decompression sickness struck lucky on Monday afternoon when he walked into Seascape Scuba on Ashford's Ellingham industrial estate complaining of nausea and backache.Owner Daniel Uren recognised the symptoms immediately. "Decompression sickness can have a delayed reaction," he said. "I asked if he'd been diving recently and he had the day before. Add that to 
his confused state and we were pretty certain what it was." Training took hold and Mr Uren, a diving instructor of four years experience, laid the man down 
and administered oxygen. His partner called the diving diseases research centre in Plymouth, who confirmed the diagnosis and advised Mr Uren to ask for instant emergency assistance. "Within a few minutes we had a road ambulance, and the Kent Air Ambulance Service at our door." The helicopter landed right in the car park," Mr Uren told us. "They were amazing." The helicopter took just 26 minutes to fly the casualty to Whipps Cross hospital in east London. An air ambulance spokesman said: "The man is now completely recovered, and very lucky. 
He could have become very ill."

WEALD police are celebrating after recording a drop in crime in April.
The overall amount of crime in the area fell by more than 20 per cent while burglary and autocrime have been reduced by more than 50 per cent. 
The number of car accidents on the roads also fell. Supt. David Pryer, area commander of the Weald said: "These are excellent, even quite outstanding 
results, but we have a long way to go. One crime is one too many, the only way to effectively reduce the fear of crime is to reduce the number of crimes committed." "We will strive tirelessly to achieve this aim. The Weald is a low crime area and everyone in the community can do a great deal to keep it that way, so the hard work continues." A police spokesman said the fall was due to a number of initiatives, predominantly the successful Operation Trident which focused on badly maintained vehicles, those being driven erratically, and those breaking speed limits.

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