Dad-of-two Neil Whiteman bought an iPhone app to jokingly keep tabs on his girlfriend.

But when his device was stolen, the GPS-based software was his saviour in an incredible detective hunt across Medway.

The 28-year-old’s iPhone 4S disappeared from his home in Lyall Way, Parkwood, last Monday night after he had a takeaway delivered.

So the canny fork-lift truck driver logged on to the Find My Friends app on his girlfriend Dawn Ansell’s phone.

“At first it was a bit of a laugh, like ‘I know where you are Dawn, I know you’re out having a cup of tea’,” he said.

“I hadn’t used it for a while, but I suddenly thought that was how I could find it.”

To his shock, the blinking dot on a map indicating his phone’s location flashed up, right next to the takeaway shop he had ordered from.

“I went down and I confronted them,” he said. “I said ‘give me back my phone now, I know you’ve done it’.”

After arguing with staff in the shop Mr Whiteman called police, who joined forces to find the phone.

Eventually they heard it buzzing in what they believe was the delivery driver’s boot, along with several others.

“Police seized his car and the wallet in his car with all the identity cards and cash,” he said. “It was great to get it back.”

Police said a 28-year-old man from Chatham later accepted a caution for theft.

Officers refused to name the culprit, saying it was standard practice for those receiving a caution.