Kent's oldest cricket ground has suffered considerable damage after large crowds of youths started hanging out there.

Youngsters have been seen clambering across the roofs of the Vine Pavilion and public toilets at The Vine Grounds in Sevenoaks after it became a popular haunt on Friday and Saturday evenings.

They also regularly leave behind litter, including evidence of drug use and glass, which is proving difficult to clear to make it safe for sports players.

Sevenoaks Town Council is now asking people to report any anti-social behaviour to police when it happens.

For the past few years, the Vine has received a Gold award in the South & South East in Bloom Competition and on Tuesday it was awarded The Green Flag Award for a seventh consecutive year.

The Green Flag Awards recognise and reward well-managed parks and green spaces, with the aim of ensuring everyone has access to quality open spaces.

The Vine is Kent's oldest cricket ground and also home to some of the town's iconic heritage buildings, and over the past few years the town council has invested considerable resources there.

The council said it was aware of unusually large crowds of local school children collecting in the grounds on Friday and Saturday evenings which has led to considerable damage to the Vine Pavilion and public toilets.

It said young people have also put themselves in danger by climbing on roofs.

A spokesman said there was a huge amount of glass, drugs and litter to collect each morning, and even with additional resources it has been impossible to collect all the tiny pieces of glass.

And they added that people had told them that as a result of the anti-social behaviour, they no longer felt comfortable walking their dogs, bringing cycles, and letting younger children use the play area.

Sevenoaks Cricket Club chairman Hugo Tudor agreed there had been problems.

He said: "Young people have been running around on the roof of the clubhouse, and it's not designed to have people standing or walking on it.

"I don't doubt eventually someone will either fall off or go through. We're fearful someone is going to get hurt.

"The gas leads have also been pulled out of the boilers. They are being a pain in the backside, really.

"I think it's a case of the young people not having much else to do and the parents not realising where they are or what they're doing."

Sevenoaks Community Safety Unit (CSU) said: "The CSU and Sevenoaks Town Council had received calls regarding large groups gathering on Friday and Saturday evenings on The Vine, possibly causing criminal damage, using alcohol and possible cannabis use.

"The CSU consists of Sevenoaks District Council staff, police, community wardens, housing associations, and other partner agencies. The CSU deals with all aspects of anti-social behaviour and community safety.

"Partners meet on a daily basis to discuss community safety concerns, crime and anti-social behaviour calls that have come in from residents and partner agencies including the police.

"As a result of the calls received into the CSU a meeting was set up with partner agencies and an action plan was drawn up to address the issues that had been raised."

The action plan includes a visit to local schools to raise awareness of the concerns, providing more security for the building at the Vine and improving cameras there.

There will also be more regular police patrols, and the CSU will work with the British Transport Police to address concerns at the railway station.

Enforcement action against people causing anti-social behaviour and criminal damage will be stepped up.

The CSU statement continued: "We are unable to monitor all social media posts, we can only work on reports that are sent into us or partner agencies such as police via calling 101 or online at www.kent.police.uk."

People with community safety concerns should call the CSU on 01732 227000 or email community.safety@sevenoaks.gov.uk.