Light-fingered hotel guests or even those feeling a sense of entitlement, having spent their hard-earned cash (or the company's) to stay there, think nothing of checking out with pens, shower caps, bath robes, or even sneaking a pillow into a suitcase.

But at Chatham's Ramada Encore, departing guests have gone a step further by leaving with kettles, bathroom bins and, would you believe, patio furniture.

Staff at the hotel at Dockside, Chatham Maritime, are asking past clients to come clean and return the goods they may have "borrowed" over the years.

A "souvenir amnesty" has now been declared at the hotel, inviting guilty parties to return goods to reception. And for every item produced, £1 will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support.

General manager Gagan Kumar said: "Over the years we've noticed that there are definitely some favourite items to pocket when staying in our hotel, and we've come across some pretty bizarre ones too.

"We thought it would be good to offer past guests the chance to own up and return their 'souvenirs' to reception throughout June – consequence free.

"We came to work one morning and saw on our CCTV somebody draw up in a van and take a huge container of used cooking oil from the shed outside..." - hotel sales manager Wendy Brazil Hannam

"Not only will they be easing their guilt, they'll be helping us to raise money for our nominated charity, Macmillan. We look forward to being reunited with some of the things that have gone missing over the years.

"Who knows, we might come across some items we didn't even know were gone."

Sales manager Wendy Brazil Hannam said it cost the hotel about £4,000 a year to replace stolen goods.

Mrs Brazil Hannam added: "It never ceases to amaze us what some people take.

"We came to work one morning and saw on our CCTV somebody draw up in a van and take a huge container of used cooking oil from the shed outside."

The hotel's management company, Redfeine BDLHotels estimates about 11,700 towels, 9,000 teaspoons and a massive 133,100 pens are taken from its 54 hotels across the UK each year.

What have you swiped from your room? Let us know by leaving a comment below.