A mysterious masked man has sparked confusion in a quiet neighbourhood after 10 manhole covers were stolen in one night.

The individual was caught on a Ring doorbell camera taking one of the covers, which can weigh around 40kg, in Sevenoaks.

People living in Harrison Way, close to Sevenoaks Primary School, were left scratching their heads when they woke up to see multiple covers missing.

In total, 10 manhole covers were taken on Tuesday, July 19, with footage showing one being lifted at 11.50pm.

A 30-second clip shows a man who is wearing a mask, gloves, and has a flashlight attempting to lift the cover.

When one resident, who doesn't want to be named, woke up the following day the cover, along with nine others on the street, had been taken.

He added: "It's the summer holidays and children were running around near these uncovered drains. There is also people with bad eyesight who could easily have fell down one of these.

"Thames Water came out and covered them up. But have since uncovered them claiming its not their responsibility, as far I'm aware West Kent Housing, Sevenoaks District Council and Kent County Council have all said its not their responsibility too."

Despite now being covered there is still some confusion between organisations about whose responsibility the stolen manhole covers are.

A spokesman for West Kent Housing Association said: “We are aware drain covers outside some of our properties in Sevenoaks were recently stolen.

"We appreciate this is a safety concern, so attended on the morning of Monday, July 25, to temporarily cover all drains with missing covers.

"We are waiting for Thames Water to visit and clarify which drain covers are their responsibility to replace, so we can order replacements for those West Kent are responsible for.

"We have not yet been provided any timescales of when they will attend.”

While Sevenoaks District Council added: "While the issue was not reported to us by the public, we sent a team to investigate as soon as we heard from KentOnline there could be a problem.

"We believe the manholes are the responsibility of the water company and found all the manhole covers were in place."

Kent County Council explained as it was a private road it was not its responsibility to fix.

A Thames Water spokesman said: “We have conducted a thorough inspection of Harrison Way and the manholes in question are private manholes and as such we are unable to fix them.”