An "opportunistic" father and son team who stole £10,000 after pushing a security guard in broad daylight have been jailed.

Shaun Howard, aged 55 of Little Brights Road, and Charlie Howard, aged 21 of Jutland House, both in Belvedere, have been jailed for a total of eight years following a robbery in Sittingbourne.

The pair approached the driver of a cash transit van in Gadby Road at about 8.30am on December 28.

After collecting money, the driver was pushed from behind and a security box containing £10,000 in cash was taken.

The crooks fled the scene in a Mercedes van that was registered to Howard senior, which was tracked to a holiday park in Leysdown where he owned a caravan.

Police searched the caravan and recovered £9,877. Both men were arrested on the same day.

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."

Shaun Howard and Charlie Howard both pleaded guilty to the charge of robbery and were sentenced to five years and four months and two years and eight months respectively at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday, January 26.