A Chiddingstone man has offered a £1,000 reward to anyone who can find his stolen Land Rover, given to him as a gift by his late father.

Mark Middlemas, 44, was horrified when his beloved black Land Rover Defender was missing this morning.

He said: "I didn't hear anything. I just got up for work at about 5:45am, did my usual routine, left the house and to my absolute horror it wasn't there."

"The Defender was the first and only car I wanted growing up. It is devastating, it was my first car and a special gift."

The off-road vehicle was given to him by his father, Col Robin Middlemas, who died of lung cancer in 2014 and has huge sentimental value.

Mr Middlemas says the illness took hold of his father following the death of his wife Ann, and that he really died of a broken heart.

Throughout his military career, Col Middlemas served in the Royal Artillery for 36 years and also in the Parachute Regiment.

He was deployed in Borneo, Northern Ireland, Germany, UK, Zimbabwe, and Turkey with NATO where he was awarded the US army's commendation medal for his service excellence in the first Gulf War.

The car has several military charity stickers on it which may help to identify it.

Anyone who finds the black Land Rover Defender 110 with the number plate LC11 WAO is urged to call 07952304340.