A RETIRED couple have foiled a raid at a supermarket after spotting a gaping hole made by would-be burglars in the roof.

Police believe the burglars must have spent several nights - between last Monday and Thursday - gradually removing the roof tiles from Sainsbury's at Headcorn, near Maidstone.

The couple reported the hole to store manager Nick Hayward last Thursday afternoon and he informed the police.

On inspection, police found damage to a back gate, which the thieves must have climbed over before scrabbling across a steep gable and removing the tiles near to the highest point of the store’s roof.

The couple's home overlooks the back of the supermarket. The woman said: “It was a clearly visible hole and three or four tiles had been stacked up by the gutter.”

Police spokeswoman Gianna Pollero said the would-be raiders had targeted a place where they thought they would not be noticed and could have come back and got into the store.

She added: "We are delighted with anybody who alerts us to anything like that. They stopped something more sinister from unfolding.”