A 31-YEAR-OLD man has appeared in court after being charged by police with taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent.

The car, containing a 19-month-old boy, was driven away from a car park in Suffolk Way, Sevenoaks, as the owner used a bottle bank.

Lee Graham Martin, of Orchard Close, Sevenoaks, pleaded guilty to three offences at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday .

Martin, who was arrested on Tuesday, was also charged with using a motor vehicle without insurance and driving while disqualified.

His arrest followed a search operation launched last Friday when a mother reported her son had been driven away in her black VW Golf as she used the bottle bank in Suffolk Way, Sevenoaks.

The toddler was abandoned at Otford railway station and then reunited with his mother.

Martin has been remanded in custody until April 26 when he will appear at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court for sentence.