A nightclub owner is warning revellers to stay safe on their way home just days after her own teenage son was attacked.

Laura Lovette, who runs Whispers in Parrock Street, Gravesend, believes lone women, people who are drunk and couples are among those being targeted.

She is particularly concerned about lack of CCTV in Manor Road, which runs alongside her club and is often used by customers as a walk-through to taxi ranks in the early hours.

The 45-year-old is so fearful of a serious incident that her doormen are instructed to tell people to avoid using the dimly-lit street, and she has set up a Facebook page, Make Our Town of Gravesend Safe For All, urging people to report all crime, no matter how minor.

“I know of eight customers who have been attacked or robbed and it’s only a matter of time before someone is raped,” she said.

“There is no CCTV in Manor Road and because it’s so deserted in that area anyone responsible for crime would not be detected.

“Most of the trouble is between 3am and 5am and those responsible are targeting lone drunk men, lone girls, vulnerable people.

“The girls come back to the club crying, saying they have had their purses nicked or someone has been following them.

“The other night I helped a regular customer who came running in saying he had been punched and robbed at a cashpoint.

“He had only gone out to buy nappies. It’s disgusting.”

Ms Lovette, who herself is on the G-Safe board – a business crime reduction partnership working with Gravesham’s retail community, Gravesham council and police – wants people to report any incident so that it is recorded in crime statistics.

“If it is logged in black and white they will have to do something,” she added.

“There is a faction of people deliberately targeting weak and vulnerable people in this town and making it unsafe and intimidating.

“I’m going to do everything possible to go to the people who can get CCTV in the areas that are high risk, to report and follow-up what can be done to make our town safe again.”

The mum-of-four, who lives in Gravesend, runs Whispers with her sister, Wendy Ballanger, and she is keen to stress that this is being done as a way of looking after their customers.

“Most of the trouble is between 3am and 5am and those responsible are targeting lone drunk men, lone girls, vulnerable people" - Laura Lovette

“We don’t want to be scaring people but want people to be aware, and self-aware.

“As a club we are looking after people that come here and I want to make it clear that we are more than able to order taxis for people at the end of their night.”

“My doormen are also told that if young girls are thought to be heading to Manor Road to tell them to walk the long way round to the taxi rank.

“We want to take responsibility for people being safe. I’m doing this as a club owner, a resident and a mother.”

A spokesman for Gravesham council said: “The council will review the need for a camera in this area. We work closely with the police and CCTV cameras are installed in areas where they identify a need.

"Gravesham has five rapid deployment (temporary) cameras units that are installed for short periods but at present all are in use.”

Ms Lovette set up her Facebook page after her son, Ryan Clubb, 19, was assaulted near Echo Square on his way home from a night out.

Mr Clubb was alone at about 3am on Sunday, September 21, when he was punched in the back of the head.

He managed to hit back at one of his assailants before a good Samaritan came to his aid and chased off the five-strong group.

Mr Clubb said lack of street lighting meant he could not see further than 10ft and neither saw nor heard his attackers before they struck.

“I was on my phone to my cousin when someone hit me to the back of my head. I didn’t see or hear anything beforehand.

“I managed to hit one of them but then I saw the others coming forward.

“All of a sudden a stranger ran across the road to help me and they ended up scattering, with him running up the road after them.

“I’m sure if it wasn’t for him I would have been in serious harm but I didn’t even have the chance to thank him.”

Mr Clubb, who hopes to join the Army, has since tried to find the man who helped him, via posts on social media sites but without success.

“I don’t know who he is. It’s like having a superhero in town.”

Ms Lovette said her son had “learnt a lesson”. She added: “He’s had the lecture about walking around on his own at night. We should be able to but the reality is we can’t.”