Wild plants have allegedly been stolen from a rural area for the second time in a matter of weeks.

About 15 crates of wild cabbage and wild samphire were taken from the Folkestone Warren nature reserve on Tuesday, February 7.

Walkers reported the alleged incident to the White Cliffs Countryside Partnership who have since contacted the police.

There has a further theft of wild plants of Folkestone Warren nature reserve, following a previous theft on January 18.

Kirk Alexander from the WCCP said: "We are very grateful to the local people who reported the theft of wild plants from Folkestone Warren and for their presence of mind in getting a description of the three men."

A similar incident happened on Wednesday, January 18 in the same place.

Mr Alexander added: “We are very concerned about the repeated large scale collection of these wild plants which could eventually lead to their loss from sites such as Folkestone Warren and will reduce seeding and reduce the number of new young plants this summer.

"These plants are locally common around Folkestone and Dover but are scarce nationally.”

Any suspicious activity can be reported to the WCCP on 01304 241806.