A town centre shop has been searched by detectives investigating a string of burglaries on Sheppey.

Police entered the High Street premises of Gemini, which also operates as a pawnbroker, just before midday.

Police say that officers also searched another property in Maidstone in an attempt to recover stolen property.

Over the past two weeks, a number of break-ins have been reported on the Island.

A total of five people have been arrested in connection with the crime spree, with three of them charged.

Inspector Tony Cannon, of Kent Police, said: "We are taking the ongoing issue of burglaries on Sheppey seriously and have made a series of arrests in the last week.

"We will continue to follow all lines of inquiry regarding these incidents and remain in close contact with the victims.

"We are compiling intelligence reports and are conducting a mixture of intensive high-visibility and covert work on these issues.

"Much of the work our team of officers are doing around these burglaries is covert and details cannot be released for operational reasons.

"However, residents should rest assured we are working constantly behind the scenes to tackle the issue.

"We are determined to bring those responsible to justice, but ask the public to be extremely vigilant and take basic steps to ensure their properties and valuable are protected.

"This includes ensuring all doors and windows are locked, keeping lights on when they are out of the house, and reporting any suspicious behaviour to Kent Police on 101 or contact Kent Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."

• For more on this, see next week's Sheerness Times Guardian