Two men have been charged with stealing around £100,000 of goods from department stores.

Ionel Stoian and Nicusor Olteanu were both arrested after valuable electrical goods were taken from shops in Ashford and Tunbridge Wells.

Laptops, speakers and smart watches were among hundreds of items reported stolen from two John Lewis stores during a series of break-ins between September 15, and January 28.

The first incident saw the store in Kingstanding Way, Tunbridge Wells, targeted.

Shoppers reported seeing police and forensic vehicles outside the store after the break-in during the early hours of September 15.

Just over a month later the front window of Ashford's two-storey 'at home' branch in Fougeres Way was smashed, while shoppers arriving the following morning reported being turned back around by workers in high-vis jackets.

Detectives from the Chief Constable’s Crime Squad investigated a total of four burglaries and one attempted burglary during the five-month period up to the end of last month.

Stoian, 50, of Thruxton Road, Havant, Hampshire and Olteanu, 30, of Lumsden Road, Southsea, Hampshire were arrested on Monday.

Both men were later charged with conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to steal and appeared before Medway Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

The court remanded them to a hearing at Maidstone Crown Court on March 2.

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