A woman has issued a warning after suspecting three men of tampering with her up-for-sale car in order to lower its price.

Police are now investigating the alleged scam, which took place in St Mary's Bay, Romney Marsh yesterday.

Having placed her Mercedes-Benz on AutoTrader for £4,750, Lucy Tester received a call from a man asking to view it.

Miss Tester gave him her postcode and arranged for him to visit at 2pm.

However, at 11.45am, Miss Tester, who was at home, received a notification from her doorbell app, Ring, to alert her that someone was on the drive way.

Miss Tester, 33, said: "My partner had just left to pick our daughter up so I thought it might be him.

"I flipped on the camera and saw three men on the drive looking at the car. I thought it was unusual but guessed they had come early.

'I don't want this to happen to anyone else. It was so blatant too, in broad daylight...'

"I quickly went outside to speak with them. I asked what they were doing, and asked why they didn't phone me to say they were here.

"One of them had already started walking off and another was on his phone and they said they did try calling me, although they hadn't.

"Another said something about needing a garage.

"I did tell them they were on camera too, and they just said 'Oh'."

The men left the driveway following Miss Tester's questions.

Having heard about a scam involving cars before, she inspected the exhaust and noticed it was dripping and there were drip marks on the floor.

When she reviewed the footage from the Ring app, it appears one of them had bent down to place a substance in the exhaust pipe.

Miss Tester, a mum of three, said: "I called my partner to come home. But when I was looking at the exhaust, they were still watching me.

"When they saw me notice, they ran off."

When Miss Tester later drove the car, thick black smoke came out of the exhaust.

"I''ve heard about this scam before," she added. "They put something in the exhaust so that when they test it in front of the seller it looks faulty, and they can then ask for a reduced price."

Miss Tester and her partner have now reported the incident to the police.

She added: "I don't want this to happen to anyone else. It was so blatant too, in broad daylight.

"I know a lot of people are selling cars at the moment."

Kent Police are appealing for information.

A spokesman said: "Kent Police received a report of vehicle interference in Dymchurch Road, St Mary’s Bay which is believed to have taken place shortly before midday on Sunday 22 August.

"Inquiries are ongoing into the incident and anyone with information regarding it should call Kent Police on 01843 222289 quoting 46/155225/21."

Read more: All the latest news from Romney Marsh