A former pub landlord has admitted making a hoax in which he threatened to explode a bomb at a bank.

But Reginald Esqulant denies blackmail, taking a car without authority and driving while disqualified, and will stand trial at Maidstone Crown Court on those charges on August 8.

The 73-year-old father, of Fawkham Road, West Kingsdown, pleaded guilty on Friday to placing an article with intent - a box with bricks in it - at Santander Bank in the centre of Sevenoaks on February 8 this year.

Jonathan Higgs QC, defending, renewed a bail application for Esqulant, who works in the licensed trade and also has a home near Harrietsham where his wife and three children live.

But despite hearing from his businessman brother Tony, 68, who was willing to stand a £5,000 surety, Judge Jeremy Carey refused it and remanded him in custody.

The bomb scare led to the High Street being placed into lockdown and the area evacuated, with army units called in to detonate a device in the street.