A pair of brazen thieves have been captured on CCTV swiping two hanging baskets outside a pub.

The video shows one of the "hooligans" using all of his body weight to dislodge one of the hefty displays outside the Maidens Head pub in Wincheap, Canterbury.

Thieves steal pub baskets in Canterbury

Landlord Jeremy Stirling says the boozer "prides itself" on an annual display of hanging baskets and this year's were "looking particularly good".

He has now urged those responsible to apologise and pay for the loss.

"It is just local hooligans being idiots," he said.

"The baskets are quite substantial and probably weigh about 15 kilos, so I don’t know what they have done with them.

"When we put them up, they were a two-man lift. When you see one of the guys remove them, he is jumping with all of his bodyweight.

"It is tiresome to make all that effort."

The incident was caught on CCTV on Saturday at about 10.15pm.

The video, shared on the pub's Facebook page, shows one of the cagey thieves looking around before he yanks the hanging basket from its fixing.

To add insult to injury, the other man appears and pulls another of the displays off, before they both flee the scene.

Mr Stirling, 62, added: "When you come off the A2, we are the first pub tourists see, so it’s like an advert.

"It is expensive to do and it takes a lot of maintenance. Everyone is just exasperated because there is no need."

The displays cost about £40 each, but as the landlord explains: "It is not just that. It is the nurturing with the feeding and watering. They take a lot of work."

Despite the unsavoury incident, Mr Stirling says he has "never had any problems" with anti-social behaviour.