A man arrested following an armed police manhunt in Maidstone has been charged with having an imitation gun in a public place.

Richard Anderson of Church Street, Burham was arrested on September 26, after a reported sighting of a man with a firearm in the town centre.

Armed officers swooped on Earl Street, but it was almost two hours before the 29-year-old was found and arrested less than a mile away in Sheal’s Crescent.

He has been bailed to appear at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on November 27.

It was the second time police had been called to reports of a firearm in Earl Street in the space of a week.

The previous Saturday, panic spread through The Druid’s Arms when a punter drew an imitation gun and began waving it around during a music gig.