Attacks on children, broken bottles, drug use and vandalism are among the anti-social issues happening in a park.

A year after a petition for CCTV was rejected by Medway Council, people who use Rainham Recreation Ground are still concerned about anti-social behaviour amid an increase in reports of violence.

A woman was visiting the park with her son, daughter, and son's friend last week, when her son's friend was shoved and punched in an unprovoked attack by two younger children, aged six and nine.

The mum, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "It's made me apprehensive. This is somewhere we've been going to for years, and it's our closest park.

"We went there regularly throughout lockdown because it was a great place for our kids to play and ride their bikes, but now I would rather go somewhere further away.

"It's the first time I've ever experienced this, but after this and the stories people have told me since, I certainly wouldn't let my son go unsupervised yet.

"But now, he doesn't even want to. I think it's made him more worried to even walk to school by himself."

The mum said while she did not think that CCTV and police presence in the park could have prevented this particular situation, it would help with the wider issues of anti-social behaviour in the park.

She said: "With other stories that I've heard of assaults and verbal harassment, I think security measures would help. There are e-scooters in the park a lot too, and that feels unsafe to me. But nothing has ever affected the children like this before.

"I just want to raise awareness that this kind of thing is happening in the park, and encourage other parents to supervise their kids. I've seen lads hang about in groups but I've never had this kind of trouble before.

"I always thought Rainham was a safe community to bring up my family in, but now I'm not sure."

The mum of the child who was attacked, expressed similar concern and said she had been aware of the park's reputation for anti-social behaviour for roughly four or five months.

She said: "We would never ever go back to that park. I'd already heard a lot about it, and heard several incidents before this. The whole summer my son had been asking to go to the park because all his friends go, and I said no. He went with them this one time, and this happened. It's just really sad.

"I don't know if I want to live here anymore. I've lived in Rainham all my life, but it's not nice that this can happen 10 minutes away from our house. It's so unlike Rainham. I'm sad my child can't go to the park and just be safe."

The mum said security measures would make the park safer. She said: "I can't think it will get better unless something is done. CCTV would definitely help. If people knew they could get caught they wouldn't do it.

"It wouldn't prevent these issues completely, of course, but if children knew they could be caught, or if the police were about, it can only be a good thing.

"It's sad. There's been so many stories of violence and verbal harassment there, and not just by young children but older kids, too. It's not just one group and people now think they can't go to the park because it's not safe for their kids."

The mothers of the two children responsible have since apologised for their sons' behaviour and the matter has been resolved privately, but this incident is one of many recent events making residents feel the park is unsafe for children.

Last year, a petition headed by Rev Nathan Ward, the vicar of nearby St Margaret's Church, called for the CCTV around the park and its car park to be reinstalled after it had been removed. The council rejected the petition due to a lack of resources to fund the security measure.

Another Rainham mum said that for the past few weeks, her children have been afraid of going to the park after one of them found cannisters on the ground, and the other witnessed an older child being attacked.

She said: "It's affected us as a family because my children are now too scared to walk down towards the Rec because of what they've seen. We used to go all the time. My son used to go on a Saturday morning to play football and I used to watch him, but since what he saw, he's stopped going.

"I think cameras need to be installed around the area and police need to patrol it more. It used to be a busy Rec.

"I went yesterday with my two children and a friend, we were there 10 minutes, and my son asked to leave as there were people in the hut and he was scared. He has ADHD and this has now affected his mental health."

Stuart Bourne is part of the Rainham Recreation Ground Community Group, also known as the Friends of Rainham Recreation Ground, who are a team of volunteers dedicated to green space in Rainham. He said the group was aware of the park's bad reputation for anti-social behaviour when it formed.

He said: "It was always our goal to try and change that reputation through highlighting the beautiful side of the park and adding new features.

"We hoped that by making more people love the park, it will make more people respect it.

"Although this worked to a degree, it wasn't enough. As we spoke to more and more people, we knew just how unsafe they felt, especially walking the park at night.

"That is why we created a petition last year, that called on Medway Council to install CCTV in the park, to discourage and catch those causing the problem.

"We also asked them to have Medway Youth Council spend more time at the park to engage with the younger teenagers to stop them becoming a problem. Both requests were ignored, even though our petition received several hundred signatures.

"A year later, we are still seeing the same anti-social behaviour. The broken beer bottles, the vandalism, the graffiti and the fights. We contact Kent Police but they have very limited resources due to being underfunded.

"So in the end we do our best to clear up the mess afterwards, but the root causes are still being ignored."

Medway Council was approached for comment about the anti-social behaviour and calls for CCTV to be installed but a spokesman said they were unable to comment.

A spokesman for Kent Police said: "Throughout the whole of August there have only been two incidents of antisocial behaviour reported to police in Rainham Recreation Ground.

"Members of the public are reminded that in order to build an accurate picture of any potential issues, it is important that anyone with information reports it to Kent Police on 101, or via the online portal on our website."

A Medway Council Overview and Scrutinee Committee report in response to last year's petition said: "Medway's CCTV cameras are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week and are focused on maintaining the safety of our town centres, transport hubs and areas of high night-time economy.

"This has proven to be an effective strategy as it maximises the time each camera is actively watched by the operative and therefore the chance they can intervene in cases of serious crime or risk to the safety of residents.

"The number of cameras on the system is strictly limited to those which are effective in meeting these goals.

"The Community Safety Team is in constant consultation with police colleagues over the types of anti-social behaviour in different areas, and the best way to combat them. It has been agreed that CCTV would offer little real value to addressing the needs of the area, and that a more effective use of resource is a physical presence.

"The situation will continue to be monitored, and if Rainham Recreation Ground presents an increase in the relevant activity, disproportionate to the surrounding area, this decision will of course be reconsidered."