POLICE have moved to quash fears that there is a knife culture in the centre of a Kent town despite three attacks in as many weeks.

The incidents have all taken place in, or close to, Chatham High Street. Senior police officers say they are not linked.

The latest attack was last Thursday when a man aged 20 received a puncture wound to his shoulder following an assault at a public house.

A 46-year-old woman was arrested and questioned by police following the incident.

The man was discharged after treatment at Gillingham's Medway Maritime Hospital and police said his injuries were minor.

Earlier this month a man aged 26 was taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries, after being stabbed in the High Street near the junction with Batchelor Street. Police said they thought the victim knew his attacker.

In another incident, three men were arrested following a stabbing in an alleyway linking The Brook and the Pentagon Shopping Centre on July 26. The victim of this attack, a 29-year-old man, was treated at Medway Maritime Hospital and discharged.

Ch Insp Peter Wedlake, of Medway Police, stressed that there was no evidence to suggest that Chatham High Street had a distinct knife culture.

He added: “Understandably, to have three incidents involving knives in such a small geographical area is alarming. However, each incident is isolated and in two cases arrests have been made.

“In the outstanding case we do have the name of the person we would like to speak to in connection with the assault and this person was not a stranger to the victim.”

He added that over the last two years police had worked hard with Medway Council and the local community to improve the area.

The Safer Medway Partnership had been established, which enabled retailers, licensees, police and CCTV operators to share information via a radio network.