A Kent town has been ranked as having the fifth worst nightlife in the whole of the UK – but is it really that bad?

Chatham was given a poor score by the research firm Public First due to the low number of bars, restaurants, pubs and clubs in the area compared with the number of people who live there. Reporter Megan Carr headed to the Medway town to see if the situation was as dire as the data suggested…

If you want the best night out in the UK, don’t expect to find it near here.

Research organisation Public First’s index ranges from a score of 24.6 in Brighton – which points to the “best night” out of any place captured in its index – to just 4.4 in Slough, which “languishes” at the bottom of the table.

Chatham was given an overall night out score of 6.2 based on the fact it has 3.1 restaurants, 1.86 pubs/bars and 1.24 clubs per 10,000 people who live there.

Looking at the data, surely Chatham’s town centre can’t be that barren? There are university campuses teeming with party-ready students just a short distance away. Oh how wrong I was.

My partner and I arrived on the train from Faversham shortly after 8.30pm on a Saturday.

Now I know anytime before 9.45pm is considered early for a weekend night out but I wanted to get a feel for the area and perhaps a bite to eat.

As someone who is used to going out in Canterbury and Maidstone, I was already very surprised by the lack of activity around me, there was no hustle nor bustle.

The first pub I came across was The Alexandra.

From the outside, I could already hear a man belting out Daydream Believer by The Monkees. It was clearly karaoke night.

Intrigued, we headed inside. It was your typical boozer. The staff were friendly, and the place had a welcoming character but I very much got the vibe it was a go-to place for the locals, not somewhere to start necking shots before hitting a club.

It was a nice atmosphere and the drinks were decently priced – it was less than a tenner for two rum and cokes – but it wasn’t somewhere I could see myself staying for the remainder of the night.

So we moved on further down Railway Street, passing the famous Thomas Waghorn statue which even made an appearance on Ru Paul’s drag race.

Our next stop was the Prince of Wales, a pub owned by the Stonegate Pub Company.

We arrived there at 9pm and again, after being patted down and checked over by door security, we realised very quickly that it was agonisingly empty.

The pub was nice enough, everything you’d expect from a watering hole owned by a big company.

After ordering two Mango ciders – a must for a summer evening, in my opinion – we took a seat and lost some change in the fruit machine while waiting for the venue to fill out. It didn’t.

Starting to get hungry and thinking people must have headed to the nearby Wetherspoons for cheaper drinks, we finished up our pints and moved on.

When we arrived at The Thomas Waghorn, we were again searched by security and had our IDs checked by a very lovely lady decked out in a pink high-vis.

Once inside my hopes of a lively night out were dashed. There was hardly anyone at the pub. There were empty tables and only a couple of people drinking.

I’d never seen anything like it. It was 10pm on a Saturday night at a Wetherspoons and it was dead.

Trying to keep the good vibes flowing, we ordered some more drinks and some food.

I opted for a pizza, washed down with another cider, while my boyfriend ordered a Hazy Jane ale alongside his mixed grill.

It was now 10.45pm and Spoons had gotten no busier. The bar staff were waiting to serve and the atmosphere in the pub was as dead as a dodo.

Trying to wash away our despair of a dire night out, we ordered six Baby Guinness shots before heading to Tap N Tin, the area’s night club.

As we walked towards it, I was excited to see a queue forming outside the venue.

I had been warned that Saturday nights weren’t the most popular night out at the club, apparently the best day to go is on a Monday.

However, making do with what I had, I hoped my night out was on the up as there was a special DJ set scheduled.

The Locked Down drum and bass event was £11.50 per ticket. This is what the queue was for.

Once inside, we ordered the bar's famous drink concoction, a snakebite consisting of equal parts lager and cider with a dash of blackcurrant cordial.

Back when I first heard about Tap N Tin I was told these drinks cost as little as £2.50 back in 2018. Times and prices have changed though; ours cost £9.40 for two.

We sat in the smoking area for a while waiting for the club to fill out and once there was a tad more footfall we made our way to the top floor of the venue for the DJ drum and bass set.

Now I know that drum and bass music isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, I can’t say it is mine either, but I was willing to give it a go.

Looking back I now wish I hadn’t, and instead saved myself the £11 it cost me to hear it.

I tried, I really did, but the music was so bad and repetitive, there wasn’t even a decent bass drop that dancers could get hyped up to.

I stuck it out for a solid 20 minutes and watched as a handful of people shuffled their way across the dance floor, struggling to see one another through the constant firing of the smoke machine.

It felt like I was at an alcohol-fuelled Year 6 disco.

In defeat, my partner and I headed back downstairs to the bar and a dance floor that was even emptier than the one we’d just left.

However, although no one else seemed to be feeling it, I was overjoyed when I realised the house DJ was playing some absolute classic 90s bangers.

My mood instantly lifted as Insomnia by Faithless began to play.

It was followed by some more modern music remixes, including Pump It by Black Eyed Peas and some songs by DJ Fred Again.

This was more like it, I was having a blast. However, it didn’t seem like anyone else was. I was the only one on the dance floor!

It was almost 1am at this point and I was at a nightclub with no one dancing.

That poor rating given to Chatham by Public First really was deserved, in my opinion. The town is definitely not the motivation for a night out.

Bored of entertaining ourselves we decided to head home, leaving the club to get the second-to-last train back to Faversham.

It was definitely one of the worst nights out I’ve ever had. The only thing that I enjoyed was dancing by myself and I could’ve done that at home in my bedroom.

Sadly, Public First’s data was indeed backed up by the pathetic night life I experienced while out in Chatham.

I wouldn’t recommend the evening I had to anyone, especially when places like Rochester, Maidstone and Canterbury are just a couple of train stops away.

Sorry Chatham, but it’s a no from me.