A man charged with taking drugs in a derelict Dartford building earmarked for the new Tesco store has failed to turn up to court.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Lukasz Maik, 37, who was meant to appear at Dartford Magistrates’ Court on October 9 charged with possessing Class B drug amphetamine and being vagrant in an enclosed premises.

He is accused of using 120 Lowfield Street, where Tesco is meant to be building a new store, for the purpose of taking drugs.

Maik, of no fixed address, was arrested in nearby Heath Street at around 7.40pm on September 1 after police received reports of people climbing over hoardings to get into the vacant shops and houses.