Three stolen shotguns were recovered by Kent Police from the River Stour on Sunday morning in Shalmsford Street, near Chartham.

Police were called to the scene around 11.20am, following the discovery by a man from Essex, who spotted the weapons in fast flowing water by the bridge close to the A28.

Specialist fire and rescue crews from Whitstable fire station were drafted in to retrieve the Aya shotgun and the two Berettas from the river.

The weapons were later traced through their serial numbers to a burglary at Boughton Lees, near Ashford, on Saturday February 7.

The unloaded guns, each worth around £2,000 each, had been taken from a locked gun cupboard.