A man has been charged in connection with a series of burglaries including allegations he posed as a gardener to steal money from an elderly woman's handbag.

Police were called to a report a man had entered a house near Loose Road, Maidstone on Monday.

The suspect allegedly knocked on the door of a woman in her 70s, who is registered as disabled, and offered to do gardening work before stealing £150 from a handbag.

Ambrose Treeby, from Paddock Wood, was arrested yesterday and later charged with burglary.

He was also further charged with another count of burglary and a suspected fraud in relation to an incident on August 15 last year where a cheque was reportedly stolen from an address in Borough Green.

It is alleged the cheque was used in a bank to defraud £20,000 from the victim, who is a woman in her 90s.

Treeby, 39, of Queen Street, Paddock Wood was remanded in custody to appear before Medway Magistrates’ Court today.

His case was sent to Crown Court for trial and he was remanded in custody until then.

Treeby will next appear on February 23 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.