Greenhithe man raises concerns over Bluewater shopping centre's enforcement of Covid-19 regulations
A lorry driver has described visiting one of the county's largest shopping centres as "frustrating and confusing".
Mark Fiddes comments come after he witnessed shoppers at Bluewater, in Greenhithe, "blatantly" remove masks to eat and drink and meet in groups in the outdoor areas of the centre.
However, a spokesperson for the centre has assured all regualtions are being followed and health and safety of its customers is its number one priority.
They said: "Bluewater is open for essential shopping and takeaway only, and we continue to follow government guidelines and work closely with Kent Police.
"The health and safety of everyone who visits Bluewater is our number one priority."
Since the site reopened last year, a one-way system has been implemented along with signs reminding people to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
Mark, who delivers coronavirus testing kits to schools across the UK, believes the centre's security teams have failed to enforce the government guidelines.
The 53-year-old said: "Living locally, I visit for essential shopping and have witnessed on many occasion numerous people flouting the rules with no interception by security.
"Weekends, particularly Saturdays, are the worst. I have seen groups of young men in the centre eating and drinking with no masks on.
"There are also large groups of parents with young children gathering in the nature reserve without observing social distancing.
"I have emailed the centre with my concerns previously and again this week, but have not seen any changes. Considering how bad the pandemic was in the north Kent area this is very concerning."
Between February 19 and 26, Dartford recorded 67.5 new cases per 100,000 people while Gravesham saw 64.5 out of 100,000 residents test positive for the virus.
On Monday, police were called to the centre after a mass brawl broke out between a number of young people, with one of them being fined for breaking travel rules after he came form London to be there.
Mark, of Morgan Drive, Greenhithe, added: "Recently there have been people sitting around on benches drinking coffee inside the centre.
"There are more people there now than before and contrary to what the site have said, we have never seen this being monitored from a social distancing aspect.
"We always see groups of parents gathering with no regard to the rules.
"It makes us really angry when they tell us they have all these procedures in place, which is fine, but they need to enforce it."