Police laid a trap to snare a suspected car thief in Maidstone.

At 3pm on Saturday an officer on a routine patrol spotted a vehicle in College Road which had been reported stolen from The Street in Bearsted the previous Sunday.

On Wednesday, March 8 it was reported to have been used at a petrol station in Ashford where the driver made off without payment.

The officer waited for the driver to return and found him with the keys to the stolen vehicle.

The man, in his early 20s, was searched and found to have credit cards which were reported stolen from a vehicle in Skinner Gardens in Sissinghurst, Cranbrook that morning.

Officers arrested the man on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle, theft from a motor vehicle and bilking.

He has been bailed until Tuesday, May 30 while officers continue their enquiries.