Three men remain in hospital today after being stabbed during an altercation in a Chatham house in the early hours of yesterday.

Police were called to Rochester Street and closed the road for several hours between Gladstone Road and Corkwell Street.

The trio, who all suffered stab wounds, were treated at the scene by ambulance crews before being taken to hospital and officers started to investigate the fracas.

People living nearby said the road was closed before 7.15am when people saw three police cars parked outside a house there and a man covered in blood in the street.

A witness, who did not want to be named, said: "A man was covered in blood and it looked like he had been hit in the head from what I could see.

"When I got back at 9am the cars were still there and police were searching some gardens and the road."

People living in the area said there was a police presence in the road from early morning and that some of them had heard that at least one person had been stabbed and robbed.

An alleyway between the roads was also cordoned off by police according to residents living there.

Today, several houses were still cordoned off and two police vehicles remained parked in the road.

One man who lives near the scene said: "The first we knew about it was when the police turned up, we never saw anything other than them arriving."

The three men were all taken to hospital with serious injuries, but their wounds are not thought to be life-threatening and they could be discharged soon.

Officers investigating the stabbings have not yet made any arrests and say they are currently trying to locate several men who are believed to have made off from the scene.

A Kent Police spokesman said: "Officers were called to an address at 6.59am to reports three men had been wounded.

"They have been taken to hospital with serious injuries consistent with being stabbed and officers are conducting an area search to locate the offenders."