A man who was stabbed after a trio of squatters were allegedly attacked by a 30-strong mob wielding baseball bats and metal poles is at home after leaving hospital.

He was taken to King’s College Hospital last Saturday with head and torso injuries after a disturbance at an empty building in New Road, Chatham.

The 23-year-old spent 24 hours in the high dependency unit after he suffered a punctured lung. He was discharged on Tuesday.

He said: “It was a very traumatic experience for me. I thought my time was up.

“I’m going to be laid up for a few months which has halted some of my plans but hopefully I’ll make a full recovery.”

Another one of the squatters said he and his two friends had been homeless for a few weeks and were looking for somewhere to stay when they discovered the building was open.

“Knowing about squatting we legally entered and set up a little area to keep warm,” he said.

“At around 2pm on Saturday, up to 30 men broke down the door and attacked me and my two friends.”

He said they asked the men to let them gather their few possessions and their dog and leave but the men attacked his friend.

He added: “This group went into pack mentality, brandishing metal poles, baseball bats, bits of timber and screw drivers."

Police and paramedics were called to the disturbance at 2.20pm on Saturday, January 10.

The air ambulance was called but the 23-year-old was taken to hospital by road.

A witness added: “Generally Chatham is a really safe area so to see something like that is shocking.

"It’s [the building] seriously derelict and they’re not maintaining it, they took out windows for no reason and boarded them up. It attracts people like squatters or worse, maybe drug dealers, or children could get in and get hurt.”

Another witness said police were at the scene until at least 9pm and she saw them leaving the building with black and white sacks.

Two 40-year-old men from London, a 39-year-old man, also from London, and a 29-year-old man from Chatham, were arrested on suspicion of assault.

A fifth person – a 40-year-old man from London – was arrested on suspicion of affray.

All five men have been bailed until March 24.