Frightened residents have praised the response of the police to last night’s disorder which saw three people arrested during clashes with anti-racism protesters.

Officers in riot gear attended the protest which saw around 100 people gather outside of Chatham’s Innovation Centre in Maidstone Road from 8pm yesterday (August 7).

Those living near the centre have since expressed how “worried” they felt before it began but shared relief that police on the ground had “reassured” residents.

Julie Middleton, 64, has lived opposite the centre for 24 years, and made the decision to head to the cinema early to avoid the planned protest.

She said: “My friends were messaging as they were worried about me and my husband’s safety.

“But the police were really kind and said we are here to protect you and reassured my husband.

“There were not as many protestors as I thought and there was no damage to the property.”

When Julie returned from the cinema at around 11.30pm she says she saw police officers but no protestors.

Meanwhile, Pragya Jain, 40, migrated from India 13 years ago with her husband and has lived in Maidstone Road for two years.

During the protests she could hear people saying “refugees go back home” but generally felt those attending were “calm and quiet” when giving their message.

The mother-of-two said: “I’m a migrant as well, I came from another country, and we are taxpayers and serving for the nation.

“If they are doing the protest without violence that’s fine but their demand should be very clear and should explain exactly what they want.”

Although Pagya was fearful before the demonstration started, she says she could understand people’s upset over the deaths of the girls in Southport.

She added: “I am sorry to the family for their loss and why the protest happened, no family deserve to face such kinds of things in their life.”

Another resident of Maidstone Road, Harmani Walia, says she was scared about what was going to happen and couldn’t step outside the house due to the volume of people.

The 18-year-old said: “I can’t really go out as much as I want to because I don’t feel safe because I am an ethnic minority.

“I feel there was quite a lot of police cars, around seven or eight, circling the area, and officers were walking around – so that made us feel safe.”

Harmani feels the police dealt with the situation well because there wasn’t any violence.

But not everyone was happy at the response and some businesses in Shirley Avenue felt less protected by officers.

A café and kebab shop owner said he closed his cafe business at midday, when it is usually opens until 3pm, while his kebab shop next door closed at 7.30pm instead of 11pm.

The owner, who did not want to be named, said he had been told by the police he should close because they could not guarantee his safety.

In response, he said: “They should have more officers and the army if the police can’t guarantee our lives.

“I had to get everything in and everyone closed early - you never know what’s going to happen next.”

As a result, the owner says he lost around £600 in business from the forced closure.

Other businesses also said they suffered after being encouraged to close by the police.

One newsagent in Shirley Avenue said they lost £1,200 of business in one day from closing following police advice. The business was open from 6am until 9am instead of until 9pm.

When KentOnline visited today, the businesses had reopened as usual and the owners reported no problems with damage or disorder.

Yesterday’s protest in Chatham, which dispersed by 11pm, saw three people arrested and seven were spoken to by police.

At its peak, 100 people congregated on the opposite side of the road from the Innovation Centre.