A man thought a rocket had been launched after spotting a white vertical trail over a Kent village.

David Playle, 34, was in his garden in Woolpack Hill, in Smeeth, near Ashford, when he noticed the plane, believed to be a Eurofighter Typhoon, overhead.

He said: "From the trail, I thought it was a rocket at first.

"I just thought 'what is going on'.

"It was flying straight up. It then changed its direction from its initial vertical trajectory, and went across.

"So I realised it wasn't a rocket."

Mr Playle, who works on the London underground, said the aircraft was "grey and appeared diamond in shape" and believes it was a Eurofighter.

He said it made no sound, and noticed there were other planes in the sky at the same time.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multi-role fighter, and was built following a collaboration between the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

It saw it combat debut during the 2011 military intervention in Libya with the Royal Air Force and the Italian Air Force, performing aerial reconnaissance and ground strike missions.