FORWARD Sam Clayton believes Whyteleafe are destined for promotion this season, insisting they are "too good" for the Southern Counties East League.

Leafe are in their second season in the division formerly known as the Kent League, after being relegated from the Ryman League Division One South.

But Clayton, who has spent most of his career in the Ryman Leagues, believes the current team could easily take the step up.

"I'm really enjoying it at Whyteleafe – playing, scoring, winning – what more could you ask for?" he said. "I definitely think we can get promoted this season; the squad is too good for the league we are in.

"With the quality of the squad, we should be in the Ryman League. I've always played in the Ryman League, most of the time in the Premier Division, I took two steps down to play for Leafe, and I think a lot of the others in the squad are the same."

Clayton has scored two goals in the last two games as Leafe saw off Woodstock Sports and then Deal Town, but it's a miracle the north Surrey resident is playing at all.

After breaking his ankle during a match against Phoenix Sports on September 17, doctors predicted Clayton should be making his comeback around Christmas time, but in fact he was back causing problems for defenders less than five weeks later.

"I broke my ankle after a bad tackle," Clayton explained.

"The doctors said I'd be in cast for six weeks and then I'd have to take it easy for a few weeks after that.

"But after two weeks I persuaded them to take the cast off and put a boot on it instead, because I couldn't do my job.

"I was moving it a bit in the boot and it felt all right, so I jogged on it and it was still OK. I then went back to football.

"I was a bit worried about the first game, but I came on as a substitute for 15 or 20 minutes and I was fine.

"I think everyone at the club was a bit surprised I was back so soon."

CARETAKER manager Anthony Jupp believes it is important to have local players in his squad as he knows they have Horley Town's best interests at heart.

Jupp, who is in temporary charge of the Combined Counties League club alongside Chris Weller, has brought a number of familiar faces back to the New Defence.

"We've brought a couple of players back to Horley, like Ben Herdman, who is a local boy," Jupp said. "He didn't play on Saturday, but might be ready for this weekend.

"We have also signed Luke Ragetti, who was at the club a few years ago, and Harry Williams, who has just returned from university.

"It's good to have some local boys back in the side.

"I think we are in that sort of position where having local boys helps us; they know the club and are proud to wear the badge; they hurt when we lose."

And Jupp says the team were all hurting on Saturday evening after a 5-0 drumming by title-chasing Windsor.

"It wasn't a good day," the caretaker boss lamented. "The thing was, we played badly and they played very well.

"Even if we played to our best then I think we would have been lucky to beat them, they're a very good side.

"The only player to really come out of the game with any credit was Karl Parker, even though he didn't score, he had a very good game."

This Saturday, Horley Town face Cove who are just one place above them in the Premier Division, although they have four games in hand.

"Looking at the league table and being realistic, we are unlikely to pick up many points against the top side like Windsor, it's the games against the bottom side that will make the difference – the six-pointer," he said. "Before Saturday's game we had been on a good run and everyone was happy, but even after the game, everyone was disappointed, which is good, but there was no in-fighting.

"We have to move on from the defeat. Whenever we have played Cove they have always been a strong side, so I'm surprised they are down near the bottom, but we will go into the game with confidence.

"It's important to be confident because it can rub off on the players."

PRIMARY school pupils in East Surrey are achieving above the national average for English and maths, new figures have revealed.

League tables, showing the performance of 11-year-olds at primary schools across the country, were published by the Department for Education last week.

Key Stage 2 results revealed the majority of East Surrey's schools were above the national average of 75 per cent of children achieving Level 4 in reading, writing and maths, despite the tougher literacy and numeracy targets being introduced this year.

Level 4 indicates pupils can spell properly, start to use grammatically complex sentences and employ joined up handwriting in English.

In maths they are able to multiply and divide whole numbers by 10 or 100 and use simple fractions and percentages.

Under the new measures schools are expected to ensure 60 per cent of pupils achieve Level 4 or above in reading, writing and maths.

East Surrey's top performing school was Kingswood Primary School in Lower Kingswood, where 95 per cent of pupils achieved Level 4 in the three subjects, up from 69 per cent last year.

Head teacher Duncan Steele said: "We've had stable staffing and a big focus and drive on reading and writing in the school over the past few years.

"For this group of children we expected an increase."

St Mary's C of E junior school in Oxted, Walton-on-the-Hill Primary School, Warren Mead Junior School and Woodlea Primary School also saw 90 per cent or more of their pupils achieving Level 4 results.

COUNCILLORS have voted to increase their allowances after a dramatic last-minute effort to freeze them for a year ended in deadlock.

A proposal to increase the basic rate by 1.1 per cent – half the amount recommended by the Independent Remuneration Panel – had already been floated at Reigate and Banstead Borough Council's meeting last Thursday, before Merstham councillor Mark Brunt launched an unexpected amendment to cancel any rise at all.

Introducing his amendment Cllr Brunt referenced a survey of Reigate and Banstead councillors carried out before a 2.2 per cent rise was recommended by the independent panel.

In it 83 per cent said the current allowance was "about right", with 60 per cent saying it should be frozen at the current rate of £5,173.

He said: "To me these facts speak volumes that members of this council don't wish to have their allowances increased and I think that's something we should take very close note of.

"If they don't engage with that [the survey] I urge them to complete the survey and say that."

Responding to a comment from Green Party councillor Sarah Finch, who claimed the allowance was a factor in her members becoming councillors, and was necessary to make up for loss of earnings and time in her role as a councillor, he added: "This is an allowance, not a salary.

"It's an allowance to cover some of the costs of the role. I'm a full-time working councillor, as many of us are, and I take great exception that because we're full-time working councillors we can't do this job properly."

A number of councillors spoke in support of the 12-month freeze, with Graeme Crome saying: "While per individual councillor this may not seem a great deal, if I were to say to residents we're handing them £10,000 I know they would have some ideas how we could better spend it.

"We are an outstanding council because we manage our money so well."

But following a fiery debate, a vote on the freeze was deadlocked at 21 votes each way. forcing the decision into the hands of Mayor Lynne Hack who, acting on advice, decided to let the amendment fall.

The 1.1 per cent rise, proposed by councillor Michael Vivona, was passed, bringing the basic allowance up to £5,229.

THE first phase of a £14.5 million improvement project at East Surrey Hospital has officially opened.

Surgeons carried out the first operations at the hospital's four new theatres on Monday following months of development at the site on Canada Avenue.

The new facilities – with state-of-the-art equipment including a new ventilation system available in only one other hospital, in Southampton – have been almost three years in the making from concept to completion.

Prior to the official opening this week, the Mirror got a sneak peak around the new facilities and spoke to staff in anticipation of the grand opening.

Neil Smith, general surgeon at East Surrey, said the new theatres would be better for both patients and hospital staff.

"When the whole project is finished we'll just have a better environment for patients and their pre- and post-operative experience," he told the Mirror. "The time around their operation and in particular the time after their operation in the recovery area will be reduced and more patients will be able to get through the operation process faster.

"For me I'm very excited about having more space to work in, not that the theatres are cramped, but these are significantly bigger spaces."

Dr Barbara Bray, chief of surgery, added: "The staff are really looking forward to working in this enlarged area. Just small things like having the electronic doors and things we would expect in our ordinary, everyday lives. There's huge interest."

More than £45 million has been spent improving the trust's facilities and equipment in the past three years, including a new post-graduate centre and new entrance.

But while these other developments have been more obvious to patients, staff believe the new theatres are the biggest and most significant project taken by the hospital – particularly as it moves towards foundation status.

Ian Mackenzie, director of information and facilities, said: "This is the most important development the trust has done but in a way it's the most invisible because people here, unless they're patients, won't experience it and visitors won't even see it. We might see more of the other developments – like the new entrance – but in terms of impact this is the most important."

He added: "There are very few hospitals that have been granted this level of investment in it from things like the entrance to this more invisible staff."

Work on phase 2 of the project – an £8 million upgrade and refurbishment of the six current theatres – will start in January.

REIGATE COLLEGE student and up-and-coming footballer, Ella Williams, competed for England in the Women's U17 European Football Championships in the Midlands from November to December.

England qualified for the final group stages as hosts of the competition and faced Italy, Austria and Portugal in their group.

Strong performances saw them finish second in their group and progress to the semi-finals, where they lost to Spain.

In the play-offs for third and fourth place, after a very close match, the team finally lost on penalties to Italy.

Williams has been part of the England squad for a couple of years and previously represented England at U15 level.

When she isn't playing for England, Williams also plays for Chelsea U17.

Other highlights in Williams' football career so far have included being nominated by the FA and subsequently chosen as one of the 50 Rising Stars for 2012 in the Jaguar Academy of Sport.

Each year the academy works with SportsAid to select 50 young athletes to support them with mentoring, equipment, competition and training expenses.

Williams said: "It's still surreal that I was chosen for the academy. I got to meet lots of the patrons, including Dame Kelly Holmes, Denise Lewis and David Beckham."

Life-saving charity Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance yesterday (Wednesday) became the first air ambulance in the country to launch a 24-hour Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) following three years of research and preparatory work.

Up until recently, and unlike the rest of Europe, the service could only fly by daylight and so traditionally operated between 7am – 7pm with two specialised medical teams deploying in two helicopters from the Marden base in Kent and Redhill in Surrey, and in emergency response cars after dark. The teams attended about 1,500 missions and treated about 1,000 patients each year.

There has, however, long been a clear indication of patient need by night. The charity undertook its own prospective and retrospective audit of patient cases which identified that there were between 400 and 500 patients per year in the 3,500 square miles that is Kent, Surrey & Sussex who would benefit from night HEMS and also, most significantly, that about half of these cases were between the hours of 11pm and 5am.

It is not possible to attend so many patients dispersed across such a large area by car and so a centrally-located helicopter and medical team was clearly needed. Following a change in Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations in 2012, the charity replaced one of its older MD902 helicopters with a night-capable MD902 which now operates from Redhill Aerodrome throughout the night.

Because of the region's size, complexities, and the presence of two major and many other minor airports, the decision was made to fly with two pilots rather than a traditional single pilot operation, to ensure the safest and most reliable service for patients and crew alike.

Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance Trust Chairman Anthony Monteuuis said: "This is a hugely expensive step and we have taken the greatest care to devise a service that is as robust and as safe as possible for everyone flying in the helicopter whether it's the patients or crew.

"The people of Kent, Surrey and Sussex are better served from this moment forward than they have in the past."

Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance Chief Executive Adrian Bell said: "Our focus is on getting our highly-skilled teams with their time-critical interventions, to the patient as quickly and safely as possible not only to save life but also to improve the quality of survival.

"None of what we do would be possible without the support of the public. There are many patients alive and well today, living with their families and amongst their friends who would not be there without the public's generous support and I would like to thank them on behalf of the charity, and all the patients we attend and treat, for their kindness and thoughtfulness."

* If you would like to make a donation to Kent, Surrey& Sussex Air Ambulance go to www.kssairambulance.org.uk or call 01622 833833.

VISITORS to Merstham High Street had great expectations about the annual Dickensian Christmas night.

This is a popular event in the village's calendar, and this year on December 4, proved to be a great night.

Attractions varied from mulled wine and carol singing to Santa's grotto and a saxophone recital by Suzi Gee.

Father Christmas set up his grotto in Newton's violin shop.

Christmas cookies and mulled wine was available in the Rt gallery, with donations taken for the Warlingham-based Lily Foundation.

Merstham Tandoori provided the Christmas tree and its festive lights.

A SERIOUSLY-ILL boy got to meet stars from TV, pop music and sport at the most powerful street in the country.

Samuel Dobson, 5, of Cromwell Road, Caterham, attended Starlight Children's Foundation party at 11 Downing Street on December 9.

He has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia – a cancer of the white blood cells – and has been referred to the foundation, which grants wishes for seriously and terminally ill children.

His wish is to meet his favourite superheroes in Disneyland Paris – he will fly out in March.

The party was attended by the likes of footballer Frank Lampard, Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint and rugby and Strictly Come Dancing star Ben Cohen.

MORE than a dozen Oxted business owners took to the streets to celebrate the country's small enterprises.

East Surrey MP Sam Gyimah was joined by 14 entrepreneurs from across Tandridge on December 7 to celebrate Small Business Saturday.

The event, in Station Road East, aimed to put the focus on the economic benefits of local businesses and encourage new enterprises.

And community spirit ran strong in the group, with each owner citing the help and support of the others as the reason they do so well.

Ann Marie, who set up shoe boutique Number 44 in Oxted just over a year ago, told the Mirror that while help was available to businesses, some could do with a little more support as they get under way.

"I think there could be a little bit more help for all businesses," she added.

"Some of the shops this year stayed closed for longer than usual so anything like this that encourages new businesses is great and with days like this then the more people backing a project the better it will be."

Barbara McNaughton, founder of Elements in Oxted, added: "We have unbelievable luck in Oxted [with the number of small businesses] and we need to pull together to keep that luck because the harder you work the luckier you get."

Speaking about the event, she said: "It's brilliant and I think we're looking to become very proactive next year in getting businesses together because one small event isn't quite enough so we want to get a few together and keep the support going."

Small Business Saturday was first established in the US and was pushed for in this country by Labour's Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna at the start of this year.

It has been hailed a national success and follows a number of measures announced in the Autumn Statement, which the Government hopes will get small enterprises growing again.

Among the measures is £1,000 off business rates for retail premises with a rateable value up to £50,000 for the next two years and a 2 per cent cap on business rate increases.

Mr Gyimah said: "This support will be of real benefit to the shops, pubs, and cafes on our high streets that are so vitally important to our community."

DIGITAL radio turned on some new players this week, with three transmitters being officially activated.

Among the new arrivals in the revolution is Redhill-based Redstone FM, which is hoping to bring a local voice back to the town – and draw in nearly 800,000 listeners.

Before Monday's launch, the Mirror spoke to Redstone FM founder and chief executive Des Shepherd, who was at the switch-on, about his ambitions for the station.

"We're bringing local radio back to this part of Surrey," he said.

"That's the thing that's been missing since Radio Mercury disappeared some years ago, so we're bringing a local voice, together with some brilliant music, and we'll be talking to local people about serious subjects. It's very much about giving this area a voice again on the radio, which has been missing for a long time."

One of the unique aspects about Redstone, which will broadcast out of the Belfry shopping centre, is that in the build-up and preparation for the digital debut, much of the work has been carried out by people who are visually impaired.

This has been an instrumental in creating a feeling of ownership among local groups, who will now be given the chance to present on the air, says Mr Shepherd.

And there are no plans for it to be a slow-burning success, with well-known presenter Roger Day drafted in to provide a big name and years of radio experience.

BBC mainstay Mr "Twiggy" Day, who will be presenting the station's breakfast show from 7-10am, said he was looking forward to bringing his A-list contacts to the listeners.

"I'm always excited at a new station.What we'll deliver, you just won't get anywhere else.

"We won't be limited to the same 300 songs that other stations are; that won't be a problem for us because we have a bigger library – and we'll use it.

"We'll try to get as many people in the studio as possible and we'll be trying to get the big names."

With a Christmas schedule currently underway, there are plans for specialist music shows to come in the new year, along with programming designed by the borough's young people.

A SCHOOL choir wowed pop sensation Pixie Lott and a large London crowd at a charity concert.

Accompanied by professional musicians, singers from Sandcross Primary School in Reigate filled the beautiful St John's Smith Square concert hall with music, as Surrey-based charity Cry (Cardiac Risk in the Young) celebrated its 18th birthday.

The concert was set up by Cry trustee James Lancaster, who lost his 21-year-old son to an undiagnosed heart condition.

The Sandcross children, aged between 7 and 11, were brought in by Cry founder Alison Cox MBE, whose daughter is a deputy head at the Sandcross Lane school.

"I am delighted that we have been able to share the outstanding talents of the children at Sandcross Primary School with a wider audience," she said.

Head teacher Judith Constable added: "This was an amazing experience for the children and we were all extremely proud of them.

"They sang with a professional chamber orchestra and with the chamber choir from Royal Holloway College in front of a packed house. They also performed two carols on their own, accompanied with great skill by Sarah Willcock, our own music specialist, and conducted by Clare Ogle, who helps to train the choir.

"All of the staff and parents in the audience were bowled over by the children's tuneful and expressive singing and the way they rose to the occasion and sang their hearts out, including Pixie Lott, who was there as a patron."