A man’s hand was left hanging off after an alleged samurai sword attack late last night.

Armed police stormed a flat in Herne Bay following reports another man had struck the 27-year-old victim with the weapon.

The pavement and a car outside the property in Charles Street were still covered in blood this morning.

One bystander has described how the drama unfolded at the junction with Bank Street at about 10pm.

“There was this young lad shouting and screaming and carrying on, bashing on the door,” she said.

“A woman came out of another side door and started shouting back at him.

“Then another guy came out of the front door with what I thought was a stick, but as he turned I could see it had a gold handle and it glinted in the light.

“The woman was screaming ‘no, no, no, leave him alone’, but the next thing he’s brought it down on the younger man.

“He was lying on the floor and another woman was shouting ‘you’ve chopped his hand off’.

“Then I could see it – it was hanging off.”

The man with the sword is thought to have gone back into the flat at Crockham House, with the injured man following soon after.

“I don’t know whether it was adrenaline or what, but the man got off the floor and went back to the door and was shouting again,” the onlooker said.

“Eventually the police turned up in a van and were here quite a while before the armed police turned up.

“By that time the injured man was on the ground again, lying on the pavement.

“The paramedics were shouting at him ‘stay with us’.

“The ambulance was there for about an hour before it left, so it must have been serious.”

Charles Street was shut off and as many as 16 armed officers surrounded the three-storey building.

A battering ram was used to break down an internal door before the officers stormed the ground-floor flat through front and side accesses.

“You could see them searching inside with their torches, but they didn’t come out with anyone,” she said.

"I think the man with the sword had scarpered."

Police confirmed they had seized a "bladed weapon" from the scene.

A spokesman said: "Officers attended the property where a 27-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman had suffered injuries and were taken to hospital.

"The man has a serious injury to his hand.

"A bladed weapon was seized by officers and as yet no arrests have been made.

"It is believed the victims and suspect are known to one another and enquiries into the incident are ongoing."