Several arrests were made and gatherings of people dispersed as Kent Police responded to reports of antisocial behaviour in Broadstairs and Margate yesterday (June 24).
Large numbers of people travelled to isle towns and there were pockets of disorder.
At around 5.35pm the force was notified of a fight on the beach at Viking Bay in Broadstairs involving a group of people and a crowd of onlookers.
Officers attended and arrested an 18-year-old man from London, an 18-year-old man from Swanley and a 16-year-old boy from Dartford on suspicion of assault.
A man in his 20s suffered a cut to his head in the incident, and enquiries to establish the circumstances are ongoing.
A South East Coast Ambulance spokesperson said: “SECAmb were called shortly before 6pm yesterday (24/06/26) to reports of a fight on the beach in Broadstairs.
“Two crews attended the scene and assessed and treated two patients before taking them both to the QEQM hospital for further medical treatment.”
In Margate, patrols were called to reports of fighting on the beach. They attended to disperse the crowds and at around 7.35pm they arrested an 18-year-old man from London who they believed had been throwing punches at numerous people.
He initially tried to run away from officers but was caught a short time later and taken into custody.
Police also responded to a disturbance at the town’s railway station where several people including a security guard were reported to have been assaulted. An 18-year-old man from London was arrested on suspicion of affray.
Chief Inspector Ian Swallow, District Commander for Thanet, said: “We have made it very clear that we will not tolerate antisocial behaviour in our coastal towns this summer or at any other time of the year, and as demonstrated by these incidents we will quickly make arrests and move people on when necessary.
“If people cannot enjoy the warm weather without fighting or causing a nuisance to others then they should stay at home, otherwise they will be forced to go home or could find themselves in custody.
“Our beaches are some of the most beautiful in the UK and it is inevitable that large numbers of people including parents with young children will travel here to make the most of the high temperatures. It is unacceptable that a minority of troublemakers will ruin the enjoyment of others because they do not know how to behave, and we will not stand for it.
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“We will continue to have a highly visible presence in our coastal towns for the rest of this week and throughout the summer, and dispersal orders remain in place in Margate, Broadstairs, Ramsgate and Westwood Cross. This will help to keep any further disorder to a minimum and prevent it from occurring in the first place.”
South East Coast Ambulance also treated two people in Margate. A spokesperson said: “SECAmb were called shortly before 7pm yesterday (24/06/26) to reports of a person in need of medical attention at the beach on Marine Terrace in Margate. Multiple crews attended the scene and assessed and treated two patients before discharging them from our care.”
Margate railway station had restricted access and crowd control measures in place due to the disorder and a security guard was among those assaulted.
East Thanet MP Polly Billington raised the issue in Parliament this morning, saying: “In response to violence and disorder last year in Broadstairs, I have worked with Kent Police, Southeastern Railways, the local councils and British Transport Police to establish better ways of tackling the problems of antisocial behaviour and yet still it returns, this time in Margate as well as Broadstairs this week.
“Now, I have welcomed the extra resources allocated to seaside towns last year by this government which definitely helped.
“Will (Sir Alan Campbell MP, Leader of the House of Commons) covey the concerns of my constituents to the Home Secretary that we need to continue to resource our coastal communities, in particular East Thanet, to meet the needs of the influxes of visitors and tackle the wilful misbehaviour of the determined few?”
Sir Alan responded: “We have already passed the Crime and Policing Act which will tackle some of these behaviours. We will be introducing Respect Orders with named local antisocial behaviour leads and we are also providing the police with the powers that they need to address these instances.”
Respect Orders enable the police to ban repeat offenders from town centres and other locations. However, the orders are only targeted at adults (18+).
Antisocial behaviour and alcohol Public Spaces Protection Order
Tonight Cabinet members at Thanet council are expected to agree to the implementation of an antisocial behaviour and alcohol Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) in a bid to tackle the issues the isle has been facing.
If approved, the order will introduce targeted restrictions to clamp down on alcohol-related disorder and urination and defecation in public. It will be in force for a period of three years from 1 July.
Measures in the proposed order are:
A year-round blanket ban on drinking alcohol in Margate High Street and Ramsgate High Street.
Other restricted areas (Margate and Cliftonville West, Ramsgate and Broadstairs – as identified on the maps above) will have prohibitions on antisocial behaviour related to alcohol, failing to surrender an alcohol container when required to do so by an authorised officer, and urinating or defecating in any public place other than a serviced public convenience.
A report to councillors says: “There is an ongoing issue of anti-social behaviour in the Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate areas. The causes of this are recognised to be complex and the PSPO is one of the effective tools for dealing with this.
“The Council sought to implement a PSPO in 2025. This was subject to the threat of legal challenge and as a result of the potential costs of lengthy litigation, a decision was made not to implement this PSPO.
“Since that time police and the Council’s community Safety Team report experiencing increased difficulties in managing anti-social behaviour as it relates to alcohol which continues to be a significant issue in Broadstairs, Ramsgate and Margate.”
A town-centre Antisocial Behaviour and Alcohol PSPO was first implemented in 2018. This was renewed in 2021 and a further attempt to renew the order in identical terms was made in 2024. This was the attempt that was subject to the threat of legal challenge.
visit thanet , the south- easts own war zone
Come to Margate, give some to the locals and not much will happen.
Trouble flares in Margate and Broadstairs during hot weather.
In other news-
sun rises, water is wet, sky is blue, grass is green, Pope is Catholic, Bears defecate in woods.
Didn’t we have all this a month or so back as soon as the sun came out? Yet still these DFL yobbos are allowed to board trains there-nearly always without buying a ticket & behaving like hooligans there & all the way here, then are allowed off doing exactly the same-as they have done for at least the last decade.
Why do TDC & the police keep feigning shock about it when it happens every year, multiple times per year & doing the we need to do more/lesson to be learned routine & then do nothing at all?
Seems these isle invaders are on an away-day train tickets, Margate train station is close to the beach, Broadstairs train station is near Viking Bay, but a 10-minute walk.
Just saying, the beautiful Ramsgate main sands currently don’t get these recent new invaders. Maybe it’s the distance and the gradient is a more demanding walk up+down from the train station and beach. The beach is well populated with pets not attached to a lead.
Anyway, the local MP is required to intervene before being shunted to the parliamentary front bench seating area. But if no shunting, I can recommend a bench at Royal Harbour overlooking UK Border Security Command (BSC), the new name for part of the border farse. Just saying this before Labour’s social media policy is rolled out on all of us. Cor Fu its hot !
Time to close train services to coastal towns for the day on very hot days?
Its always Broadstairs isn’t it!? Time to nuke the town and start over.
Make Thanet Great Again.
Should we amend the Protection Order to ban defecation anywhere – public or private – over the key weekends?
– No one would want to come to Thanet to cause trouble (or anything else)
– The locals would be stuck indoors waiting for Monday morning so they can have a tom tit
Would save a bit of water too!
And still no barriers at the stations!
It’s remarkably UK ethnic trouble this… don’t see that remarked up often. If there was any inkling of an ability to scapegoat minorities or refugees, it would set the national press on fire! But nope. Just our own special kind of trouble. How reassuring!