Security staff found themselves with a sticky situation when they arrived to open the doors at Maidstone Crown Court this morning - and the locks had been super glued.

Court staff were kept out in the cold for about an hour while the locks on the main doors were drilled out.

“The locks were so stuck it was impossible to open them with a key,” said one employee. “Someone had to be called in to drill them.”

Security officers are studying footage from CCTV in an attempt to identify the culprits, believed to be mischievous youths.

Another employee said: “I got here at 7.45am and people were waiting in the car park. I was told we couldn’t get in because the locks had been super glued.

“Some people went to McDonald’s to keep warm. They broke the locks and we were let in by about 8.10am.”

It is not the first time the court has been the subject of vandalism. A man was charged after a suspected arson attack last April, which damaged the front letterbox.