A car thief who took a car from a hotel in Maidstone has been jailed for 21 months.

Matthew Allen, of Bazalgette Rise, broke into the staff area of Oakwood House Hotel, in Oakwood Park, and stole the keys to a Peugeot 1007.

The burnt out remains of the car were found in Loose in September last year.

The 26-year-old was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Monday, November 24 after pleading guilty to burglary.

A second victim reported that a bank card had been stolen from her purse and noticed that an unauthorised transaction had taken place on the card of £20.

Allen was arrested but in interview claimed that he was only aware of the incident as he had read about it in his local newspaper.

Having identified Allen on CCTV and established that the £20 transaction on the stolen bank card was used to top up the credit on his mobile phone, he was charged with burglary.

Detective Constable Gabriel Chandler from Kent Police said: "Allen denied any involvement in the offence, claiming his only knowledge of the offence was from reading media reports, but he was clearly linked to the offences when a stolen card was used to put credit on his mobile phone.

"The car that was stolen was worth thousands of pounds and was later found burnt out, causing great inconvenience to its owner.

"I’m pleased that we were able to identify Allen and put him before the courts to be sentenced."