A woman has revealed how she tried to save the life of a suspected murder victim, who is believed to have been gunned down in a residential street, yards away from a nursery.

Urszula Maliszenska was returning home from the Coop store on Northumberland Road, Maidstone, with her boyfriend and relatives when she saw a man face down on the ground on Cambridge Crescent at around 10am.

The 27-year-old, who has lived on the estate for 18 months since moving from Poland, helped put the man in the recovery position to try and give CPR.

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Despite her best efforts, and those of paramedics and air ambulance crews, the man, in his 50s, was pronounced dead shortly after, in an incident which has left the community - home to many young families and barely two minutes away from St Martin's Nursery - shaken.

"I said straight away that I thought he needed help," she said.

"He had a purple mouth and fingers and blood on his chest, pouring away from him onto the pavement.

"He had a pulse but I knew he was not going to survive.

"When I went to work later, I kept thinking about it all day..."Urszula Maliszenska

"I was scared and it was very sad."

Miss Maliszenska, who said she did not hear a gunshot or any commotion prior to seeing him on the ground, stayed at his side for "a couple of minutes" before another woman arrived on the scene.

"I don't know who she was, but she said to go and that she'd call the police," she said.

"They were here very quick, probably about five minutes and I saw the helicopter arrive.

"I have seen this situation in my country, this is normal. Today there is life, then tomorrow...nothing. But not here, it is horrible. There is shock here.

"When I went to work later, I kept thinking about it all day."

A man in his 50s has been arrested.

Detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate have launched an investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the death.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or who has information that may assist the investigation is asked to contact the appeal line on 01622 604100 quoting reference 17-0574.