Special constables visited 24 shops specialising in second hand goods on Saturday.

The operation took place to ensure stores that buy and sell second hand items are complying with all of their responsibilities, and not inadvertently handling stolen goods.

In Tunbridge Wells officers seized CCTV footage after receiving intelligence that someone had been attempting to sell suspected stolen property.

A follow up investigation will take place.

In total eight special constables were involved and visited premises across Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge and Malling.

The visits were carried out as part of Operation Castle, Kent Police’s burglary initiative.

PC Sharon Turner, specials coordinator at Kent Police said: “This is another example of where we have carried out a proactive operation, totalling over 64 hours of policing hours, with the help of our special constables.

“The operation was really successful in terms of collecting intelligence around people attempting to sell items and we gleaned a lot of information that we can take forward in terms of crime investigations and the providing additional knowledge to the local neighbourhood and burglary teams.”

Special constables are trained volunteers who are provided with police uniform and have full police powers, including the power of arrest.

They volunteer a minimum of 16 hours per month and attend regular training sessions.

They work alongside regular officers and independently and take part in a variety of policing initiatives, ranging from executing warrants, public order policing and crime investigation.

If you are interested in joining Kent Police as a special constable you can visit www.kent.police.uk/joinus to view the minimum entrance criteria and watch a video about life in the Special Constabulary.