Apple has assured residents in Kent their privacy will be protected after the firm revealed company vehicles will visit the county during a mass data exercise.

The American technology giant has announced vehicles will be driven around Dartford and Sevenoaks over the next two weeks in a bid to improve Apple Maps.

The towns will be visited as part of an exercise to collect data along with locations across Greater London, Birmingham, Ireland and America.

On the Apple website it reads: "Apple is driving vehicles around the world to collect data which will be used to improve Apple Maps.

"Some of this data will be published in future Apple Maps updates.

"We are committed to protecting your privacy while collecting this data.

"For example, we will blur faces and license plates on collected images prior to publication. If you have comments or questions about this process, please contact us."

The vehicles will be driven from Monday until Tuesday, June 30.