It’s been a rough couple of years for everyone. Whether it be being locked up because of the pandemic or pinching pennies due to the cost-of-living crisis, there’s bound to be a few people wanting to unleash some pent-up anger and frustration without a visit to the cells.

Reporter Ben Austin takes a trip inside the county’s first rage room for some cathartic destruction and axe-throwing to see if it’ll be a hit or miss in Kent.

The craze is thought to have started in Japan, before taking America by storm, and is regularly seen all over social media.

Rage Out in Maidstone is about to go into its second weekend since opening and it’s become so popular some people have had to be turned away.

But owner Paul Fisher was gracious enough to invite me down to give it a go.

I headed into the town centre, past The Brenchley in the high street and to the former Post Office where the new site is based.

It joins other attractions in the area, including Prison Island just a a couple hundred metres away which offers mini golf and escape rooms, as well as the recently opened Ovation show bar in Gabriel’s Hill.

The site is made up of three rooms – two for solo raging and a third for groups of two.

The rules were simple enough – no weapons to be swung above the head, no leaving the rooms except for adjusting of PPE which must be done outside and every weapon must be put back in the box before picking another one.

As I was getting my safety talk, staff began filling the room with breakables, from mugs to TVs and even some copies of Die Hard which I yippee ki-yayed into the wall.

Fortunately for Rage Room, it has a deal with Gillingham Street Angels who donate him all items that do not pass grading or cannot be sold.

Once suited and booted in my best Squid Game ensemble, I took the sledgehammer and started destroying whatever they put in my way.

It was awkward at first. After all, it’s not often someone gifts you a sledgehammer with the only explicit instruction to wreck the contents of a room. But after five minutes, and a few bowls later, I was fully into the swing of things.

Soon the room resembled something of a Greek celebration with shards of plate everywhere. They also gave me a TV to smash which I expected to put up more of a fight but I guess LG doesn’t stress test with sledgehammers.

Me and the hammer were a force to be reckoned with but I felt I could do more damage with a more familiar tool and so shortly switched it out for a baseball bat and sure enough my swing became far stronger.

I made sure no plate or mug was left untouched and with that slugger making me feel like the reincarnation of Babe Ruth, that room became a tapestry representing my destructive side. I fully got into it.

I can see why it has taken off as it has, it is thrilling to break convention, and a few appliances. To be given permission to batter away for 30 minutes with almost no limitations is quite an experience and one I would be happy doing again.

After I had ruined an antiques shop’s worth of china Paul talked me through throwing an axe.

He explained how this part of the business was more of a hobby for him and wanted to let others have a chance of sharing his likes.

Again a quick tutorial and go-over of the safety rules and I was let loose with an axe.

The aim was to sink on into the wooden target at the end of the lane, something I thought I would find easy with my background in cricket.

Unfortunately, my skills of throwing a red leather ball did not translate into axe form as it took me five attempts to land an axe in the wall; even after some helpful tips from Paul.

But it was good fun nonetheless and did manage to sink a few in.

Owner Paul admitted the first few sessions didn’t go as planned, but the team has made some corrections.

He said: “We wanted to do something nobody else has done and my daughter wanted to have a birthday party in a rage room but we couldn't find one, so we created our own.

“It has just gone absolutely crazy with bookings. It’s been mad and we couldn't have asked for more.

“It’s great for releasing your stress and some in America have even had it prescribed to them as therapy.

“It didn't go well the first weekend – we made a lot of mistakes and we're happy to admit that, but we’ve learned from them and from the customers.

“Our staff were brilliant and we feel better prepared as we go into our second full weekend open.

“We have axe throwing as well which is a bit of a passion of mine and we had the extra space for others to do bits after the 30 minute rage room.”

The whole premise of Rage Out was exciting refreshing and something completely unique to other attractions not just in the town but in Kent.

As the popularity of the opening weekend showed, there was a gap in the market for something like this and some customers explained how they had driven two hours just to give it a go.

A session in the rage room costs £60 per room for 30 minutes and axe throwing is £22 per person.

Paul also said he is setting a blue lights card deal offering those in the emergency services 15% off and is looking to have days where they are specifically open for people in those fields of work.