A woman who left her keys in her car door for three days was delighted to discover neither the keys nor car had been stolen.

Tim Prater tweeted his relief over the incident after his mum left the keys in the vehicle's door in Sandgate, near Folkestone, over the long weekend.

His mum, who was down for a few days from Hassocks in West Sussex, had panicked when she couldn't find the set of keys only to find they were hanging from the car lock.

The car had been parked in a lot off Sandgate High Street between Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Mr Prater, a councillor on Sandgate Parish Council, posted on Twitter yesterday: "My mum has been visiting this weekend.

"She parked in the car park around the corner, and had a panic today when she couldn't find her car keys.

"She'd left them in the car door. For three days.

"And nobody took them, or the car.

"It's not always like that, but I bloody love Sandgate."

And Mr Prater added that the lucky incident has restored his faith in humanity.

He said: "It was lovely to get to the car and find the key in the door still.

"You hear so many crime stories or sad news stories so it is good to hear a good piece of news.

"At the very least we would have expected someone to have opened the car, but not so much a pack of tissues was moved.

"And Sandgate was very busy over the weekend with a lot of people around.

"It is refreshing to have my faith in humanity restored."

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