POLICE cars dashed to the village of Aylesford today after a member of the public spotted a man with a rifle in Rochester Road, shortly after 8am.

Armed officers were alerted but stood down when the first patrol to arrive at the scene established that the man was not committing an offence.

About six officers arrived before the alert was cancelled. A spokeswoman for Kent Police said: "We do get these calls around the county quite often.

"People see people with guns and quite rightly report it, but there are legitimate uses for guns and some people are entitled to use them."

Many farmers had licenses to carry guns, she pointed out.