A pair of kidnapped gnomes have been reunited with their owner - after they were abandoned on a doorstep more than five miles away from their home.

Gordon and his wife Gertie were left outside a house in Sutton Road, Maidstone, last Monday night, holding a note asking the homeowner to return them.

The garden figurines had been snatched from East Park Road in Aylesford's Royal British Legion Village five weeks earlier.

Their owner Adele Ankers, 49, launched a campaign to find her beloved 3ft statues, which were Mother's Day gifts from her three daughters.

Posters and flyers were distributed across the village and neighbouring town, while dozens of friends and family posted the appeal on Facebook. Kent Police were also notified.

Mrs Ankers said: "I didn't care about who had taken them, I just wanted them back as their sentimental value means so much to me."

The keen ornament collector was stunned when an officer called to say they had been found.

In a bizarre twist, they were left at the home of an emergency control room operator, who lives near to the police headquarters.

Mrs Ankers said: "Maybe they knew she worked for the emergency services and would hand them in?

I think they became too hot to handle because the posters were everywhere and the appeal was all over Facebook. I’m so happy they’re back home where they belong.”

The gnome-snatchers had painted Gordon's belt and had attempted to sand the red paint off his hat. Both figures had mud on their feet.

Mrs Ankers took extra precautions to bring them home by making them wear seatbelts in the car. They have now been stored safely in the shed until they can be restored.