A father and son who robbed a security guard as he was collecting cash from a Sittingbourne store have been jailed.

Shaun Howard, 55, and Charlie Howard, 21, pushed the driver from behind and snatched a security box containing around £10,000.

The robbery happened in Gadby Road, Sittingbourne, at around 8.30am on Thursday, December 28.

The men fled in a white Mercedes sprinter van that was registered to Shaun Howard.

Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology tracked the van to a holiday park in Leysdown, where Shaun Howard owned a caravan, and both men were arrested later the same day.

After a search of the caravan and bin bags directly next door, officers recovered all but £123 of the money.

Both men pleaded guilty to the charge of robbery.

Shaun Howard, of Little Brights Road, Belvedere, was sentenced to five years and four months while Charlie Howard, of Jutland House, Belvedere, received two years and eight months when they appeared at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday.

Detective Inspector Gary Scarfe from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate said: “This appeared to be a spontaneous and opportunist incident set into motion by this father and son team who made a decision to steal the money and flee the scene as quickly as possible.

“They showed no regard for the impact their action would have on the victim who was going about their job.

“It was with the help of the public that the partial details of the van were obtained and the fantastic work of our divisional officers who were able to track them down so quickly, make the arrests and recover most of the money that was taken.”