A whistle-stop tour of Kent by veteran CND campaigner Bruce Kent included a visit to Deal Town Hall to meet volunteers from the Deal Area Emergency Foodbank.

The 84-year-old is the vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

During his visit he also spoke at Dover Grammar School for Girls, met people in Margate town centre and in the evening he addressed a packed public meeting at St Paul’s Church Hall in Canterbury.

David Rumsey, secretary of the Kent area CND, said Mr Kent’s message throughout his visit was simple.

He said: “It is nonsense to be planning to spend one hundred billion pounds on renewing the Trident nuclear weapon system, particularly at a time when there are so many cuts in vital services.

“Not only does it divert money from our real needs, but it does nothing to protect us from the threats which face us these days: terrorism, global warming or epidemics.

“If we claim to need nuclear weapons for our own security, then of course other countries will want to have theirs too, thereby increasing our insecurity.”

Cllr Pam Brivio from Dover, a long-time CND supporter, said Mr Kent’s visit to Dover Grammar had been memorable.

She added: “He was as sharp as ever! It was great seeing him and he made the girls laugh. He is a very engaging person.”

At Deal Town Hall Mr Kent met Foodbank volunteers, including the chairman Alan Thompson, and emphasised the connection between poverty and the massive expenditure on nuclear weapons.

The CND vice-president presented a donation to the DAEF charity and Mr Thompson described him as inspirational.

He added: “His words of encouragement were really motivating.

“It is good to hear a man with such focus on social justice and community wellbeing giving his support to the volunteers and all contributors to the Foodbank.”