Two men have appeared in court charged with conspiring to steal cash machines across the county.

Construction worker Anthony Pemberthy, 43, of Calder Road, Maidstone, and Stephen Davenport, 60, of the town's Ashford Road, are alleged to have been responsible for six ATM thefts committed between November 2019 and March 2021.

Diggers were used to cause considerable damage in each of the incidents, with large amounts of cash stolen.

The Esso garage on Cranbrook Road, Staplehurst, was hit, with thieves ripping the cash machine from the building and placing it on the back of a light-coloured flatbed van.

Significant damage was caused to the station and pictures at the time showed the digger left abandoned in the forecourt.

The following year, at Morrisons on Coldharbour Road, Northfleet, a gang of four or five suspects used a JCB digger to attempt to break into the supermarket.

The suspects were thought to have left the scene empty-handed in two 4x4 vehicles and a flatbed truck.

Pemberthy and Davenport were arrested on Monday and have both been charged in connection with offences at the following locations:

• The Co-op on Cranbrook High Street, in November 2019
• An Esso petrol station on Cranbrook Road, Staplehurst, in January 2020
• A Tesco Extra on Honeywood Parkway, Whitfield, in March 2020
• Morrisons on Coldharbour Road, Northfleet, in January 2021
• A Tesco Express on Dymchurch High Street, in February 2021
• The Shell Lychgate garage on the A299 Thanet Way, near Dargate, in March 2021

Both defendants appeared at Medway Magistrates’ Court today to face the charge over their alleged roles.

A bail application was submitted on behalf of Pemberthy on the basis the dad-of-four, who works in construction, was the sole "breadwinner" for his family.

But chair of the bench Lois Birrell turned down the request and remanded both men in custody to stand trial at Maidstone Crown Court on June 8.