A propeller from a U-boat which spent most of its life sitting in a Kent man's home as a coffee table was this week returned to the German Navy.

The object is from First World War German submarine, U-8, which is thought to be the very first sunk during the conflict on March 4, 1915.

It found its way into a 75-year-old man's home in Sandgate until last June when officers from Kent Police and colleagues from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency located the artefact and seized it from the house.

After being fashioned into the quirky piece of furniture, PC Preston Frost and PC Darren Reed, of Kent Police's rural task force, helped the MCA find the item.

Now, the propeller has been returned to the German Navy following a ceremony at Portsmouth Naval Base on Monday.

PCs Frost and Reed were joined by MCA enforcement officer Simon May at the ceremony on board the German ship Karlsruhe currently docked in Portsmouth during which the handover took place.

The U-8 was captured by the Royal Navy when she became snagged in nets and forced to surface approximately 10 miles east of Dungeness and south of Folkestone.

Her four officers and 25 crew were taken prisoner with no loss of life during the action.

Two Royal Navy destroyers, HMS Gurkha and HMS Maori, picked up the crew before U-8 was scuttled by their gunfire.

Officers carried out a warrant and found the item as part of a joint investigation into the theft of high-value items from shipwrecks in the English Channel.

The man was arrested on suspicion of theft but was later issued with a caution.

PC Frost said: "We are proud of our close working relationship with the Maritime Coastguard Agency and are pleased to have played our part in ensuring the return of an important historical artefact.

"We will continue to investigate anyone suspected of stealing items from sunken wrecks and bring prosecutions against them when appropriate."

Items found at sea in British waters must be declared to the MCA's receiver of wreck, Alison Kentuck, within 28 days.

Her advice is artefacts found at sea are "not a case of finders' keepers".

After being declared, the receiver then gives the opportunity to the owners to have their property returned.

Not declaring items is illegal and perpetrators can be levied with a large fine.

The U-8, built at Kiel in northern Germany launched in 1911, sank five British merchant ships during the early months of the war before being lost.