A councillor has put in an official complaint to police about their handling of an "out of control" house party.

On October 30 a mob of up to 150 teenagers "terrorised" residents living in Kitchener Road, Strood, after reportedly being turned away from a house party which they were not invited to.

Councillor Zoe Van Dyke (Labour and Co-operative), who represents Strood North lives on the road and saw first-hand the damage caused.

She held a meeting on Thursday, November 24 at the Medway Archives Centre in Bryant Road to discuss the incident.

However, when she asked for police to attend the meeting, she received a reply from the force stating: "I regret that I see no significant benefit in attending a public meeting in Strood at the present time.

"The recent disorder was an isolated incident and there is no significant likelihood of a recurrence."

As a result, she has put in an official complaint to the force. She said: "The police's decision not to categorise the event as a public order matter or event is clearly unacceptable in all the circumstances – a key effect being the inability of residents to fully redeem their losses."

She also said there was great concern about the late response by the police to deploy "sufficient ‘man power' in a timely way" in spite of several calls from the public outlining the scale of the problem.

She continued: "It also links to the reduction of PCSO numbers by Kent Police making responses less robust.

"At the public meeting that was well attended we discovered that young people who legitimately attended the party in Kitchener Road were ordered by the police to leave the safety of the house whilst waiting for their parents to collect them - exposing them to risk of harm."

At a recent regeneration, culture and environment overview and scrutiny committee, Cllr Stephen Hubbard (Labour and Co-operative), who also represents Strood North raised the point.

He, along with other councillors, attended a police surgery after the event and said he was "very disappointed" by the attitude of the police officer that was there.

He said: "In Strood North nothing really happens and when I get reports from our PCSOs they're very light – what I'm trying to understand is why a serious public disorder was pushed away.

"When we asked for police officers to come along to a public meeting it was decided they wouldn't come – it's pretty poor."

"I got a text on October 30 quite late from my ward colleague Zoe Van Dyke and she described that she'd walked out of her house into an episode of the Walking Dead."

It was estimated that there were about 150 teenagers in the street, who smashed wing mirrors and jumped on cars.

He continued: "The way that police officers were speaking at the surgery you'd think it was something quite minor. It was serious.

"My colleague Cllr Van Dyke is a trained lawyer, she's a barrister, and the way that she was pushed back and the way that we were being spoken to as councillors was appalling.

"It's just a 'party that's gone wrong' – no, some people had come along via social media to an event that was a party but the party never happened."

He said that if police officers had come along to the public meeting that was held, they would have found a little bit more about what happened.

The grandparents of the child who was holding the party said that they had called the police at around 7pm but there was "no reaction."

The person living opposite Cllr Van Dyke had three vehicles "knocked around" and was unable to go to work the following day and lost a day's income.

Cllr Hubbard said: "It is very disturbing to find that the ward I thought was safe is not safe."

As there is an ongoing complaint, Kent Police are unable to comment as this time.

In a previous statement, a spokesman said: "Significant resources were sent to the area in response to reports that a large number of people were engaged in anti-social behaviour in the street.

"Police attendance was supported by dog handlers and specialist officers from a tactical operations unit. Assistance was also provided by officers from the British Transport Police to prevent further issues as groups made their way to the train station."

Two 16-year-old boys were arrested and taken into custody in connection with assault and possession of an imitation firearm.

Inquiries are ongoing in relation to allegations of criminal damage to several parked vehicles in and around the Kitchener Road area, as well as other offences including shoplifting.