A mum has been left traumatised after a man she did not know tried to force his way into her flat in the early hours.

Rachael Jane, of Mill Road, Gillingham, was woken up at 4.30am on Sunday (Feb 5) by a stranger trying to kick her door down.

The 25-year-old said she heard screaming and someone running up the stairwell towards her top floor flat.

"A man then began banging on my door whilst saying 'please, please, someone help me, someone God help me, I'm dying'.

"My first reaction was shock. I thought someone was out there killing him.

"Thankfully, my boyfriend had stayed over that night because I don't know what I would have done if I was on my own. I woke him up and told him what I'd heard."

Rachael, who has a three-year-old daughter, was left paralysed with fear.

She said: "He was slamming into my front door with his shoulder. The man was doing it so hard that he also caused serious damage to my neighbour's door purely by the way he was bouncing off of it.

"I was too scared to look but my neighbour told me that he was literally going from her door and chucking himself into my door.

"He was holding on to the wall that's right next to my door, leaving blood all over it, and also donkey kicking my door.

"And then after he'd gotten a bit tired, he would sort of drop to the floor and just moan and roll around.

"But then he'd start screaming again. He was saying a woman's name and shouting to tell her that he loved her."

Rachael called the police at 4.50am and they arrived at 5am.

She continued: "My neighbour and I had never seen the man before.

"I don't know why he broke into the flats, why he came up three flights of stairs to my door or what his motive was.

"He may have been drinking and taking drugs and could've been in such psychosis that he thought that this place was somewhere else."

Rachael is concerned about how the man managed to get into the building as people can only get inside with a fob or by being buzzed in.

Following the incident she says she's barely left her flat due to her anxiety – she's even struggled to walk past her front door.

When Rachael did finally manage to get downstairs she saw there was no damage to the building's front doors which has left her with more questions.

She said: "How he got into the building is very frightening to me because if he can get in someone else can get in.

"I'm just happy that my daughter was staying round her dad's house when this happened."

Rachael's flat is owned by social landlord Southern Housing, which was previously known as Optivo.

The mum-of-one continued: "Nothing like this had ever happened before.

"I moved in in July last year so I've not been here too long.

"My main concern about this whole thing was how this man managed to get into the building.

"There's been a number of times where I've actually had to report to Southern Housing that the front door has been broken.

"So if it was faulty when this happened it would make sense how this guy got in.

"It just doesn't make sense to me why they wouldn't make the entrance secure.

"Your home is supposed to be your your security, you're meant to close the door and feel safe but I've had no support since this happened."

Rachael said it took police and paramedics an hour and 20 minutes to get the man away from her front door.

She explained: "There were seven different police officers on this one man and then there were two paramedics trying to sedate him. It was just terrifying.

"The damage that he had caused from bouncing off of my neighbour's door to my door was unbelievable.

"My neighbour's door was so badly damaged that she couldn't get out of it. She was completely trapped.

"They couldn't open it from the inside or the outside and in the end the police had to use their battering ram to bust open the door.

"I had to clean up the blood that was left behind myself, and deal with the damaged door and all the things he'd thrown around.

"The jeans he was wearing, which had to be cut off by the emergency services, were left here as well."

Police confirmed they had attended to help the South East Coast Ambulance Service with a medical incident.

They did not make an arrest.

Rachael said: "I want to press charges. He broke in, caused damaged and left me with a lot of anxiety regarding whether or not he'll try to come back.

"I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."

A spokesman for South East Coast Ambulance said: "Ambulance crews attended following a call shortly before 5am on Sunday.

"A person was assessed and treated before being taken to hospital for further checks."

"We’re committed to upgrading the intercom system to improve security further in the future..."

A Southern Housing spokesman said: "We’re really sorry to hear about the experience our resident faced in her building on Sunday (5 February).

"Our contractor repaired and secured the communal front door on Sunday (5 February) on the same day it was reported and we’ll be assisting the police, where needed, with their investigations.

"We’re committed to upgrading the intercom system to improve security further in the future.

Our contractor previously attended the building on 15 January after a repair issue to this door was reported to us.

"The lock was secured when our contractor left and we hadn’t received any reports until we were notified of this weekend’s issue."

A housing officer was due to visit Rachael yesterday (Tuesday 7 February) to check on her welfare and see if there was any extra support it could offer, the spokesman added.