Dozens of homes have been left without their phones lines and broadband service for five days after an audacious raid by cable thieves.

They managed to steal almost 500 metres of communication cabling from near Ashford Road in Chartham in the early hours of last Thursday morning.

Engineers for Openreach have been working at the site in Bolts Hill where about 40 customers have been affected.

A spokesman for the company said: "The police attended and the area was made safe.

"Our engineers are on site and working to get everything back to normal by the end of today.

"If any customers in the Chartham area are having problems with their broadband or phone connection, we’d recommend they report it to their service provider."