A campaign group is calling for a Victorian bear pit to be re-established among new developments in Ebbsfleet - just minus the bear.

Gravesend Futures has started a petition to excavate a pit in the former Rosherville Gardens that was once home to a bear named Rosie.

In the 1830s, crowds would gather at the pit at Rosherville Gardens in what was the Disneyland of the time.

People would visit the gardens and throw food down at Rosie.

Now, local history enthusiasts want to restore the bear pit, without the bear, to encourage tourism to the area.

Founder of Gravesend Futures, Neege Allen Navarria, said: “We want to excavate and reveal the bear pit.

“It is only about three metres under soil and in good condition.

“It would act as a focal point for other heritage assets on the site, such as underground air raid shelters and hermit caves.”

The petition has gained over 100 signatures to bring back the bear pit, minus the bear.

Mr Allen Navarria said: “We are not anti-development, we are very much for it if it is world-class and this would mean more than just a plaque.

“People who want to buy want to buy somewhere with identity.”

The bear pit was part of Rosherville Gardens which was filled with chalk in 1939.

The pit was given a grade II listed status in 2014.

Keepmoat Homes are preparing to pitch plans to build 700 homes as well a school and shopping centre on the Northfleet Embankment East development site.

Mike Dempsey, regional managing director of Keepmoat Homes, said: “We have worked closely with the relevant authorities, statutory consultees and their experts on our approach to the preservation of key features at the site of the former Rosherville Gardens.

“We are commemorating the location of the bear pit, in line with their decision when the site was remediated and have taken their advice about how to protect the bear pit and mark its location as a point of historical interest.”

A spokesman for Ebbsfleet Development Corporation, the developers behind a massive garden city, said: “We are working towards taking the application by Keepmoat to our planning committee soon and our assessment will take into account all of the representations made during the public consultation.”