Efforts to improve a street blighted by anti-social behaviour have been undermined by thieves.

Luton Road resident Keith Clear moved plant pots onto a section of Luton Road near his home earlier this month, hoping to brighten up the Chatham street and stop it being used to dump bags of rubbish.

But he and other members of community group, Arches Local, were left dismayed when the plants went missing in the space of 24 hours.

"I've lived her since 1999," said Keith, 69, who's also a carer for his disabled daughter and a trustee of Medway Parent and Carer Forum. "Luton Road had a bad reputation when we moved in, then it improved. There's now quite a substantial move to improve the area.

"We've got the Arches Local group, we've had a mural painted, which you can see as you come down new road towards the Arches.

"There are plant troughs around the arches and we've planted trees. There's a lot of community spirit here, but it's had a bad reputation people are trying to shake off.

"With the plants we thought about putting some plants over there because people dump rubbish there.

"One had lilies in, another had a blue flower. It was really bizarre, because 24 hours later two pots had gone and someone had dug the lilies out.

"We were keeping an eye on the rest of it, but during the night when we had heavy rain the pot disappeared."

Having found one of the plant pots behind a skip, Keith wheeled it back to his front garden but was further appalled when it was stolen again.

"It's obviously someone local who knows my movements because they seem to do it when I'm not about," added the dad of four. "I'm thinking of getting security cameras because no one has ever been in my front garden before.

"I felt they weren't just stealing from me, they were stealing from the community. People had commented to say how cheerful it looked, and then someone decided they had the right to steal it."

"I was gutted. We have an Arches Local meeting every Thursday, when we talk about improvements to the area and how we can make a difference, and this was something I felt would make a difference.

"It just felt deflating because I'm usually quite an optimist."

Keith remains optimistic that if enough people retain a sense of community, then the fortunes of Luton Road can improve in the long term.

But he says they will also need help from the likes of Medway Council - and that help seemed less than forthcoming when he reported rubbish dumped outside a neighbouring house last week.

"I was walking past as two young ladies were walking past pushing their buggies - there were flies around the rubbish and they said the smell was terrible."

"I rang the council and they said they would get someone out - that was last Wednesday but they haven't been.

"I went past yesterday - the rubbish was still there, there was also some raw meat and I think I saw a rat. There's no one living there there. We thought the bin men would take it away but nothing was touched, and someone had put a fridge freezer there.

"The council had been coming round to clear rubbish before but it seems to have got worse in the last couple of months."

On Tuesday this week, after the issue was reported on Kent Online, Keith said efforts were under way to clear the rubbish.

Medway Council says it has not received any reports of fly-tipping at Luton Road, and that residents are encouraged to report fly-tipping incidents on public land so they can be cleared as quickly as possible. Residents can report by calling 01634 333333 or on our website www.medway.gov.uk/flytipping.