A Chatham man has been arrested and is in custody after allegedly attacking a young man with a hammer.

The 46-year-old man, who has not been named, is said to have attacked the younger man on Thursday evening in a flat in Fort Pitt Street at about 8.20pm.

The injured man managed to escape his alleged attacker, thought to be his mother's boyfriend and fled the flats, leaving a trail of blood on the ground.

Residents living close to the scene were shocked to see the police arrive and cordon-off an area in front of a block of flats, shortly after 9pm.

Other residents in the flats were told to stay indoors while officers called in crime scene investigators.

Other officers on the scene were scouring the area and were not allowing anyone across the cordon.

A witness living nearby, said: "It was quite bizarre - we never heard any commotion until we heard the police radios.

"We looked out of the window and saw several police cars and an officer using the tape to cordon the area off.

"We could hear and see they were looking at some blood on the floor, but we couldn't tell what had happened.

"About an hour later the forensic team turned up.

"A lot of other people in the street were looking out of their windows too.

The cordon was still in place at 3am when I got up and looked out again and the forensic van was still there, but when I got up at 6.30am for work, everything had gone and it was like it had never happened."

A spokesman for Medway Police said: "We were called to an address in Fort Pitt Street at 8.20pm after a man was allegedly attacked by another man with a hammer.

"We have a 46-year-old Chatham man in custody on suspicion of causing GBH with intent.

"Officers arrested him at 2.25am."