A hospital has clarified that a social media post claiming a baby was stolen by a "woman who dressed up as a nurse" was a hoax.

Hundreds of people shared a Facebook post being circulated which claimed a two-day old tot had been taken from Maidstone Hospital earlier this week.

A Jonah Kanyimo, whose profile says he lives in Zimbabwe and has no mention of the town, posted on Maidstone facebay to make the false claim.

It was shared more than 100 times by Facebook users.

Alongside a picture of a woman in scrubs holding a baby, he said: "Worst nightmare as this woman impersonated herself as a nurse and stole a two day old baby boy from a local hospital in Maidstone.

"She was caught on camera and is on the loose and if anyone sees her please report this to your nearest police station and share this post so we can help the 27-year-old first time mother in reuniting with her son."

Kent Police and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust confirmed they had no reports of the incident.

A spokesman for the trust said the scrubs in the picture are completely different to those used at the hospital and the post was fake.

The Facebook user 'Jonah Kanyimo' has shared an identical post into other Facebook groups but for different areas.

He was approached to explain his reasons behind the false post, but did not reply.