A family park where a mass brawl erupted has become a sustained trouble hotspot where police fight daily battles with 30 street drinkers.

The force has revealed the shocking extent of antisocial behaviour officers face when tackling Dover’s notorious Pencester Gardens.

Not only has a huge fracas unfolded in the town centre site, but drinkers have regularly been seen publicly urinating, hurling bottles in front of children, thieving, and dealing drugs.

Describing the grim scenes the force regularly faces, PC James Chenery said: “Colleagues and I have fought daily battles with a nucleus of approximately 20 to 30 chronic street drinkers.

“A dispute erupted between young females and two intoxicated young males, which led to larger groups of youths forming a running disturbance ensuing between the two groups.

“Three of the drinkers were assaulted and required medical assistance.

“One intoxicated young female was arrested.

“The incident took substantial police resources to quell, not to mention ambulance staff who had to tend to the injured.”

PC Chenery’s disturbing account came in a letter to Dover District Council (DDC), the authority responsible for running the park, to highlight the scale of trouble he has witnessed.

Read out at a cabinet meeting on March 31, the town centre beat officer of four years painted a bleak picture of the aftermath brought on by chronic public alcoholism.

“I was immediately struck by the levels of street drinking and petty crime and disorder that such activities generated,” he said.

“A significant proportion of the local business owners and residents cited street drinking and associated anti-social behaviour as one of the key issues affecting the town centre.”

He described how the behaviour attracted thievery, trading of stolen goods, plus widespread and blatant drug dealing and taking.

A large group of drinkers had set up shop in Pencester Gardens, where rolling lawns are situated next to the River Dour, complete with a bandstand, zip wire and an array of play apparatus.

Also with a skate park and close proximity to the bus station, Pencester Gardens draws “high volumes of families, young children and visitors to the area,” he added.

When KentOnline visited recently, one resident recalled “obscene” moments when street drinkers hurled bottles near children.

Milan Gaszi, of Dover, said: “I've seen some incidents happen around here.

“It mostly happens with people who have drinking problems and they don't know how to self-control themselves with drink.

“On some days, you have people who throw bottles - because there are kids here that’s obscene.

“If people are not causing any trouble and just drinking by themselves then I don't really see a problem with that.”

But MrGaszi said he regularly walks through the park freely and without incident.

Judith Dudgeon, of Deal, feels safe at Pencester Gardens, at least during the daytime.

“I'm not sure of a nighttime, but in the daytime it seems alright.

“My husband and I come down here and pick our son up from college most days.

“My son doesn't seem very worried about coming into the park or playing football.

“It's very busy because you've got a lot of people playing games and young families out, so there's a mixture of people.”

She added: “I think there's more of a problem in Deal.

“People are breaking into people's places and their gardens. They have been standing on roofs in the shopping centre.”

In Dover, disruption and lawlessness have spread beyond Pencester Gardens, PC Chenery explained, with a group of drinkers taking to public benches at Market Square.

They would move through the town and stop at St Mary’s Church grounds and Biggin Street, the officer explained.

“They routinely used the streets and alleyways to relieve themselves and would also become progressively louder and more unruly as their level of intoxication increased,” he added.

PC Chenery stated Deal has such hotspots, and gave the Garden of Peace behind St George’s Church in the High Street as an example.

Underage drinking has caused anti-social behaviour in the areas of Victoria Park and Tides Leisure Centre.

He wrote: “This is also an issue and area that has been highlighted as being of particular concern to respondents to Violence Against Women and Girls surveys. “

Youths have also swilled alcohol and caused trouble at North Deal Recreation Ground off Western Road, whereby problems have drifted into the town centre and railway station.

Overspill from beachfront bars in the summer has also fuelled drink-related disorder, spreading to the High Street, South Street and southern precinct, he said.

PC Chenery said he supported PSPOs as they were a preventative tool where officers can order people to stop drinking if trouble begins and confiscate alcohol.

Those who disobey police orders can face fixed penalties or be ultimately arrested.

People can still drink in the designated areas if they are properly behaved.

He wrote: “The (existing) PSPO hasn’t solved this issue but it has provided us with the means by which to control it, and in so doing significantly reduce the negative impact of street drinkers’ activities.

“Ultimately the PSPO is a vital tool in our armoury that frankly we would struggle without.”

Dover district’s present three-year PSPOs expire in July.

During the meeting, the cabinet agreed that the designated areas concerning anti-social behaviour should be shrunk from the whole district to Dover and Deal towns.

It would also cover immediately neighbouring villages.

In and around Dover, the PSPO would remain in Buckland, Maxton and Elms Vale, St Radigunds, Town and Castle, Tower Hamlets and Guston.

In and around Deal, the measures would remain in Kingsdown, St Margaret’s-at-Cliffe, central Deal, Mill Hill, North Deal and Walmer.

The cabinet agreed to a six-week public consultation before updating the new rules.

Speaking after the meeting held in the council chamber, district commander for Dover, chief inspector Liz Cokayne-Delves, said officers are “dedicated to identifying solutions”.

“While PSPOs are managed by the council, they are one of several tools we are able to call upon as part of our commitment to keep the district a safe place to live, work and visit.”

The council’s proposals also cover dog nuisance and seek to expand areas where they are banned or made to stay on leads.

The authority’s environmental crime team reports dog attacks have soared by more than a third in four years throughout the district, from 57 in 2020 to 78 in 2024.