A town's crackdown on violence, crime and littering has begun and the opening salvos could include banning street drinking and blanketing a park with CCTV.

Newly elected Conservative leader David Burton recently talked of the "darkness" that "lurked in certain parts of Maidstone" declaring that "anti-social behaviour and illicit dealings have no place here."

He pledged: "We will be taking these places back."

Now details are emerging how the council intends to do that. First up is improving Brenchley Gardens, the scene of a recent stabbing and countless cases of nuisance behaviour.

The council's deputy leader, Cllr Jonathan Purle, said: "If you speak to anybody in Maidstone about Brenchley Gardens, they might comment on how it sometimes looks pretty and can sometimes be a peaceful spot. But more often, they’ll complain about how it acts as a magnet for anti-social behaviour.

“We are currently looking at options for enhancing CCTV coverage and for securing the gardens at night to prevent their being used for violent altercations such as the recent stabbing."

Cllr Purle has personal experience of the gardens - he walks through them twice a day from his home to his office.

He said: "It's really a very pleasant place as long as you are prepared to walk around the occasional drunk lying across the path and ignore the man going to the toilet behind a bush."

The park was originally closed at night, but the gatehouse adjacent to Maidstone Museum was destroyed by enemy bombing during the Second World War.

Cllr Purle said: "We won't be able to reconstruct the gatehouse, but it should be possible to put in some railings and a gate."

He also said the council would try to change the gardens' atmosphere by encouraging more positive uses of the park such as performances from live bands at the bandstand, and possibly a cafe.

Initial suggestions will be discussed at a meeting of the council's Communities, Housing and Environment Committee on August 31.

But Cllr Purle said the borough also had much wider ambitions to crack down on crime, littering, graffiti and and anti-social behaviour across the borough, suggesting Jubilee Square was another place that needed attention.

He said: "We are investigating whether it is possible to tighten the Public Spaces Protection Order and make it less ambiguous."

At present, the order enables the authorities to confiscate alcoholic drinks from people who are causing a nuisance, but that becomes a judgement call.

He said: "It would be better if drinking on public streets was just banned - apart from al fresco dining at licensed premises obviously."

Cllr Purle said the borough would also search for ways of moving Maidstone's night-time economy to more of a twilight economy, with venues closing earlier.

He said: "It's very difficult to alter a premises' late-opening licence if they are well run facilities - and indeed why would you? - but it may be possible to put earlier closing restrictions on new venues that open up."

Cllr Purle said a key element would be obtaining more police cover for the town centre.

He said: "If you walk through town at midnight or half-twelve, the centre is well policed and everything's calm.

"It's round 2am to 3am that you see fewer officers - perhaps because by then they are all tied up at the station booking in earlier offenders - and the atmosphere can degenerate."

Cllr Purle said: "Meanwhile, Brenchley Gardens is a small part of the council’s park offering and we’ve got council officers working on their plans for enhancing how our parks can be used to encourage biodiversity and contribute to the general cleaning up of Maidstone’s environment."

Brenchley Gardens is a five-acre park adjacent to Maidstone Museum. It was presented to the town by the Victorian explorer Julius Brenchley in 1873.

The gardens were designed by Alexander McKenzie and include a Victorian bandstand and a cenotaph created by Edwin Lutyens which is a two-thirds size replica of the one he designed for Whitehall in London.

A more recent addition has been the bronze statue of a member of 36 Engineer Regiment returning from a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

From 1904, the gardens were also home to a sculpture of the mythical figures of Acis an Galatea, created by John Thomas, who also carved the statue of Lady Godiva that is a poplar piece within Maidstone museum.

The statues were removed for repair in 1990 after vandals decapitated them, but have never been returned.

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