A thief has been caught on CCTV stealing plastic flower pots worth just a few pounds and plants and hanging baskets have also gone missing in the same area.

A man, wearing a long coat and flat cap, was captured on camera in Twydall, Gillingham, in the early hours of Sunday.

CCTV captures the man on camera

He is seen walking away with the plastic troughs from outside a house in Twydall Lane. The soil and flowers inside had been tipped out and left behind.

Homeowner Stephen Shepherd said: "We had only just planted them with my granddaughter Holly who is eight, so it is upsetting for her.

"We had been to B&Q on Saturday to get the flowers with her and plant them. Then on Sunday morning we were leaving the house to go out for breakfast and noticed the pile of soil."

When Mr Shepherd checked his CCTV he saw the suspect walking from the direction of Twydall shops.

The man looked in his neighbours garden, then Mr Shepherd's before disappearing out of sight of the camera.

He returned five minutes later and walks across Mr Shepherd's driveway toward his house. He is then seen walking back up the driveway with the plant pots in his hands.

Mr Shepherd said: "It is the not the cost of them, they were only cheap plastic things that you can get for a few pounds, but it is the principle.

"They are cheap enough to buy, so why not go to B&Q and get your own instead of taking other people's and making a mess."

Mr Shepherd has since found out his neighbours a few doors down had some concrete pots stolen on the same night.

Similar incidents have also taken place in the area in recent weeks. Another resident in Twydall Lane had a plant go missing from a large pot outside her home – and the soil had hardly been disturbed so it is unlikely to have been an animal.

One man had a hanging basket taken and window boxes were stolen from another property.

Mr Shepherd said plants were also taken from another garden. The 62-year-old initially didn't report his theft to the police but after hearing of so many other incidents he might do so.

He added: "Who walks around at 2am or 3am looking in people's gardens? It could be something more sinister."

A police spokesman said they had not received any reports of items being stolen from gardens in Twydall Lane on Sunday.