Land Rover Defenders are being stolen and sold online for more than £30,000.

A Freedom of Information request to police showed that since 2016 there were 121 Defenders reported by their owners as stolen.

The last Defenders were made in 2016 and now the cars and their parts are prime targets for thieves as their value continues to rise.

KMTV spoke to PC Nick Lingham from Kent Police's Rural Task Force at the site of a stolen and burnt-out Land Rover near Hollingbourne.

He said: “It could be that they’re just stolen for a joy ride. Or it could be used in some kind of rural criminality.

"The hope of the offender is that with it being burnt-out that any opportunity for forensic capture may also be destroyed as a result.”

Last year, as part of the force’s recruitment drive the rural team was doubled in size from six officers to 12.

The teams operate in pairs in three divisions across the county, working with rural communities and landowners to prevent and combat rural crime.

However, the figures show that of the 121 Defenders stolen just 47 were recovered in that same time period.

Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott has twice risen council tax in the last two years to pay for extra officers and said whilst the resources are available it’s also down to victims to be proactive with their reporting.

He said: “Where the team has expanded only very recently, they’re still getting to grips with the extra abilities they’ve got.

“I think the key issue is timeliness because people may be doing it (thefts) overnight and trying to get away as quickly as possible.

“It’s up to us to be able to recognise when they’re being stolen and how quickly they’re being reported to the police. We’re in a better position from a policing point of view to respond it’s just how quickly the reports come in.”

In total Sevenoaks had the highest number of reported stolen Defenders with 23 in the last three years, followed by Medway and Tonbridge and Malling which both had 18 reports.