The owner of a tea room and a personal trainer opened a laser tag arena two months ago and have found it turning into a community asset.

To find out why it is proving so popular, Alex Langridge and her reporter colleagues went to Gravesend to put it to the test.

Graham Broadbent, who runs Marie's Tea Room in Gravesend High Street, joined forces with TCS Fitness' Tim Smith to try to bring something new and exciting to the town.

It was from there Future Survival was born and after weeks of building the arenas and creating new ideas, the duo opened in New Road, about 10 weeks ago.

Tim said: "I am going to be honest, the first few weeks were tough. We were wondering if it was going to work and if this was something that was going to happen.

"After that, it has become a lot like a community and a place where people can hang out, and clubs we work with are coming on a more regular basis."

Graham added: "We have only been going for 10 weeks but we already have a few people who have filled up their loyalty cards. We are already getting to know our regular customers really well, which is brilliant.

"We are both very clear on the fact that this is a community place. We love the fact that anybody can come in and feel safe no matter who you are. Everybody is more than welcome. Anything and everything we can do, we want to try and do."

The site has become a popular spot for Scouts and groups for people with autism to meet and the pair are also considering running women-only nights for those who would prefer that.

Future Survival has started to become a firm community hub, says Graham, and with rising energy and running costs they have had to rapidly move their timeline along to help keep it going.

They have introduced outdoor events and will soon be offering airsoft – similar to laser tag but using BB pellets. Graham added: "We are working hard to push through and not stand still or wait for any help that might be announced."

Tim added the pair are also "putting in precautions" to help conserve energy by installing smart plugs, so if something is not being used it can be off. Both are confident the arena is here for the long run.

To find out why the game is so popular, I decided to go down and battle it out with my colleagues.

The game is set in the year 2259 and themed around a post-apocalyptic training ground as players try to survive the zombie hordes and the other factions of survivors who are stealing supplies.

There are two laser tag arenas – the lab and the warehouse – spanning across two floors which can be used separately or booked together to create an even bigger battlefield.

The site holds up to 40 players and has incorporated the newest technology to include live feeds of scores, guns which have an impulse recoil which passes through the body imitating a real weapon, grenades and more than 80 different game modes. There is also going to be an optional 18+ feature, a band which will give users an electric shock when being shot.

On arrival, we were taken to the armoury to get geared up with a "tagger" gun, shock band and headband and were then sat into two teams – red and blue.

Tim explained to us the first game we would be playing, Catch the Flag, which involves shooting the other players' base and getting back to yours without dying, all while shooting each other.

He then took us up to the 'warehouse' on the top floor which was a lot bigger than it originally seemed. There was around four or five different rooms to navigate and plenty of hiding spots.

With 20 minutes on the clock, we ran around like headless chickens ducking, diving and dodging our opponents while trying not to run out of breath.

The shock bands worked when you were shot. On the lowest level it vibrates but on the highest sends a short, sharp shock through your arm – I quickly turned mine back down to one.

It was one of the most fun evenings I'd had in a long time although I was not expecting it to be like a workout as we all came out sweating buckets.

You can find out more or book a game at Future Survival here.

Next on Graham and Tim's agenda is planning a live actor and entertainment Halloween event across both arenas.