A delivery driver has been caught on camera appearing to steal a child’s pumpkin while dropping off an Amazon package.

The pumpkin, which belonged to Justin Thomas’s three-year-old daughter Lillianna-Rose, was hidden behind the wall at the front of their home in Tyler Hill Road in Blean, near Canterbury.

After picking it up at a vegetable patch, the pumpkin was kept outside until Lillianna-Rose was ready to carve it for Halloween, but it was snatched before she had the chance.

Mr Thomas 33, explained: “My daughter picked the biggest pumpkin she could find being a three-year-old.

“Instead of keeping it indoors where it could go funny, we left it outside behind the wall so no one could see it and thought we could bring it back in before Halloween so she could carve it.

“On Saturday I had an email saying a parcel had been delivered and left behind the wall.

“When I got home it was lashing it down with rain so I grabbed the parcel and took my youngest daughter inside.

“It wasn't until I went downstairs the next morning I noticed the pumpkin had gone.

“I looked back on the cameras to see if anyone had been lurking and I discovered it was the delivery driver.”

Footage appears to show the driver pulling up in a van and dropping off the package before loading the pumpkin into the back of the vehicle.

Lillianna-Rose’s uncle has since replaced the pumpkin to spare her the disappointment, but Mr Thomas says the fact it was only a pumpkin is not the point.

“We told her it had shrunk because the new pumpkin is a bit smaller,” he said.

“I couldn't bring myself to tell her some man had stolen it.

‘I looked back on the cameras to see if anyone had been lurking and I discovered it was the delivery driver...’

“I know it's only a pumpkin but that's not the point, it shouldn't have happened. What if next time it is something else?”

Mr Thomas reported the incident to Amazon who issued the father-of-two an apology.

The firm has launched an investigation into the incident and also offered Mr Thomas a £20 reimbursement and a £25 gift card as a goodwill gesture.

A spokesman for Amazon said: “We’re looking into this with our delivery service provider and we’re in direct contact with the customer.”

While happy with their response, Mr Thomas, a binman, says it has put him off ordering from Amazon again in case the driver returns.

He added: “They said they will investigate what has happened but they can't keep me up to date because of data protection.

“I understand that, but I want to know if this driver is still out there visiting people’s properties.

“I would hate for someone to lose their job this close to Christmas, but this shouldn't be happening.”

The theft was reported to police.

A spokesman for the force said: “Officers have received a report that a pumpkin was taken from outside a property in Tyler Hill Road, Blean.

“It is alleged to have occurred at about 4.40pm on Saturday.”