A POLICE helicopter was used to lead officers to £100,000 worth of stolen luxury cars hidden in a warehouse in Kent.

The Essex Police chopper was called after Sheerness police started picking up a signal from a stolen Mini One’s Tracker device.

The helicopter – using a searchlight – hovered above the Halfway area for 30 minutes on Sunday night trying to pinpoint the exact location of the car.

Eventually it settled upon a rented warehouse in Power Station Road which officers entered and found the Mini plus a BMW 320, an Audi A4, an Audi A3, an Audi Quattro and a Skoda Fabia.

All of the cars were stolen from the London Borough of Bromley.

Police spokesman Helen Bell said: “The tracking signal was picked up at Sheerness police station and it stated the 04-reg car was within about five miles of there so we called the Essex Police helicopter which we use in urgent cases like this.

“It then tracked the signal to the warehouse and police on the ground raided it but no arrests have so far been made.”

Warehouse owner Tim Pierpoint said: “I was awoken by police at 11.30pm to ask me to open the main gates. I had seen the helicopter circling overhead earlier and there must have been about 11 policemen in four or five police cars.

“I was able to tell them that I had let the unit in July to what seemed to be a model tenant who lived off the Island.

“People are always coming and going in cars so I didn’t notice anything suspicious. The rent was paid up until the end of this month.

“I have seven units and have never had any problems before in the 30 years my family has been here.”