Police are investigating an anti-Brexit prank which saw road signs across the county changed to describe Kent as 'The Toilet of England'.

Nearly 30 were altered by EU Flag Mafia on Thursday night, in what they described as a "military operation" using stuck on pieces of paper.

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They normally say 'the Garden of England'.

The protest, named 'Operation Pisspot', aims to draw attention to the fate the group believe will befall Kent when the UK leaves the EU in January, with thousands of lorries clogging the county's motorways and portable loos lining the routes.

But now Kent Police said they have been made aware of “criminal damage” to the road signs and are making inquiries.

A member of the activist team has hit out at the idea of officers devoting time to the stunt.

They told the PA: “We acted on behalf of the residents of Kent.

“Everyone who was involved in placing ‘Toilet’ on the road signs lives in Kent and we reject any suggestion that any damage was done to any of the road signs – the stickers can be removed very easily.

“We suggest that Kent Police have better things to be doing with their valuable time, like trying to work out how the people in Kent will be still be able to travel around the county while thousands of lorries are gridlocked in jams around the county.

“If any Kent resident feels offended, we suggest they simply remove the stickers."

Some 26 signs on A roads and B roads, spanning Kent's borders with London and East Sussex, were altered, but according to the group three have already been changed back by people who took offence.

Group spokesman Peter Cook previously told KentOnline: "This is a military operation to relabel all of the signs along the Kent border.

"We will point out the mindless chaos to come to our county: 70-mile pile-ups, rotting food and medicine in lorries; dogging parks, portaloos in villages; 30% price rise on some foods in the middle of a global pandemic.

"We must endure Covid-19 as a natural phenomenon. We don't need to ensure Brexit as a man-made project for the benefit of a few disaster capitalists."

There are fears of congestion on Kent roads when the new rules come into place, as HGVs travel to the port of Dover.

In October the government said it had drawn up "detailed plans" to line the M20 and A20 with portable toilets before December 31 when cross-Channel transport will enter a world of "unknown unknowns".

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove has previously warned that queues of up to 7,000 trucks could form in Kent unless businesses do more to prepare.

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