by Gerry Warren

gwarren@thekmgroup.co.uk

A campaign to have a hotline to the Samaritans installed at the scene of three deaths on the railway line at Whitstable has been launched by the family of the last victim.

Anthony Sait, who ran the Tudor Cafe in the town, died last month when he was hit by a train at the Glebe Way crossing.

His death followed that of two women from the town, Jan Graham and Anne Nacci, in similar circumstances.

Now the family of the 40-year-old father-of-two have launched an appeal to pay for a special telephone at the scene. The appeal received a boost on Sunday when basketball-playing friends from Medway Park Crusaders dedicated their league match to him and the appeal.

Mr Sait, whose funeral was last Thursday, was an accomplished player and was chairman of the then Canterbury-based East Kent Crusaders and later president of the Medway Park Crusaders, when they were renamed after their change of home.

On Sunday, the club played Eastside Eagles in a league match watched by family and friends at which there was a minute’s silence in memory of Mr Sait.

The club’s director of basketball Jesse Sazant said: “Anthony was very well-liked at the club and we wanted to pay our respects. When we heard that his family wanted to install a phone to the Samaritans at the crossing we held a collection which raised £250.”

Canterbury Samaritans director Mary Greenwood said the family had not contacted the organisation about the plan.

She said: “We would be happy to talk to them but I suspect there could be technical and practical difficulties with installing a direct phone line at the scene.

“However, we do have a nationwide campaign of trying to site our posters at railway stations and it may be that we could have a poster at this level crossing.”

The family of Mr Sait have chosen not to speak to the media at this time.