A group of "thoughtless" pranksters have been winding up Gravesend coppers by faking kidnappings in the town.
YouTube user Tünay Kayali has posted videos of the pranks online with one four-minute film showing two men driving around in a blue Audi, throwing Daniel Jarvis, known on Twitter as @bmwjarvo, out of the boot wrapped in duct tape.
Startled passers-by rush to help, cutting the tape with their house keys and calling Kent Police to report the kidnapping.
Mr Jarvis is then chased down a busy road by the 'kidnappers' while a resident can he heard saying "must be gang related."
Unlike unsuspecting passers-by Kent Police are no longer being fooled by the pranksters.
One shot sees the pair wrapping duct tape around Mr Jarvis' head, ankles and wrists next to a police car in a dark car park.
The men shout "he's got my Pokemon cards" as two officers return from a nearby shop only to be told by one officer: "Very funny. We've seen all your pranks."
In a third fake kidnapping, where Mr Jarvis is dumped from the car at a petrol station, he can be seen on the phone to the police who advise the joker to call 101 quoting a reference number.
Watch the video above: (Warning: video contains swearing)
The operator says: "If you call that number it will confirm that I am the police and that we have been getting calls about people thrown out of cars with tape on them.
"We understand from an officer earlier that it might be yourself that's doing it, doing some kind of filming for YouTube or something."
Gravesham district commander, Chief Inspector Simon Alland, said: "On this occasion we were aware of the prank and had briefed our officers and circulated a description of those involved to ensure they knew it was not an emergency.
"However, it caused concern and worry to members of the public who witnessed it and rightfully believed it was a realistic situation that needed emergency services.
"Thankfully, this sort of thoughtless activity is rare, but it does needlessly raise fear of crime and can cause those unfortunate enough to witness it great distress. It can also monopolise our phone lines, take attention away from genuine emergency incidents and waste police time.
"While we wouldn’t want to stop people having fun, I would advise against any pranks which cause fear, alarm or distress to others, or divert the emergency services from being available to deal with real incidents."
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