A mother has spoken of her shock after a carjacker hopped into the driver's seat of her family car and drove off as she watched helplessly.

Mother-of-two Debbie Martin, 28, had parked her Vauxhall Zafira in Gravesend's West Street car park.

She had just finished working at M&H Vision Care, in the High Street, and was leaning into her vehicle to move the passenger seat when she glanced up and found a man sitting in the driver's seat.

Mrs Martin said: "It was about 5.05pm and I was going to collect a cake for my little boy's blessing. I didn't know this man was watching me.

"As I moved the seat, some CDs dropped down and I was moving them back. I looked up and this man was just sitting there.

"I said 'what are you doing in my car?' and he tried to make out that he'd accidentally got into the wrong car.

"I found out later he'd done the same thing just before to another woman. He'd got inside next to her and he went 'I'm ever so sorry'.

"I went round towards the driver door asking what he was doing, this was my car, and he said 'Is it really?' and as he's saying that, he's doing the windows up. Then he just drove off."

Inside the car was her mobile phone, handbag containing £200 – funds for her son's blessing and cake – along with her children's seats and pushchair.

Mrs Martin, who lives in Cliffe with her husband Mike, three-year-old daughter Olivia, and nine-month-old son Conor described the man as English with a tan, wearing shorts, T-shirt, and sunglasses.

He had light brown, gelled-forward hair and was aged around 40.

She added: "He was so quiet getting in the car; it's pretty frightening to think about.

"What if my children had been in the back asleep? Would he still have just driven off?

"I feel like he was just targeting women and I want people really to just be aware of what's going on around you."

The incident happened on Friday, July 19 - the day before a 77-year-old woman was robbed nearby in the ladies' toilet of St George's Shopping Centre.

Police are not linking the two crimes. A police spokesman said inquiries were ongoing.

The force said: "The man is reported to have driven off in the car in the direction of Imperial Retail Park and Thames Way."