A West Kingsdown pensioner has been found guilty of threatening to blow up a Sevenoaks bank.

Reginald Esqulant, 73, of Fawkham Road, threatened to detonate a bag of paving slabs inside the Santander High Street branch unless cash was handed over to him.

At about 12.45pm on February 8 he presented a ransom note to a member of staff warning failure to comply would result in the use of his “explosive device”.

Esqulant then left the premises, expecting to collect the money from a point around the corner.

Police were called and large parts of the town centre were closed as a cordon was put in place.

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Letter that Esqulant handed over to staff on the day of the bomb hoax

A Ministry of Defence bomb disposal unit then carried out a controlled explosion on the suspect package.

Analysis of Esqulant’s device showed it contained a portion of a coloured paving slab within a hessian bag.

This bag was within a cardboard box.

Esqulant was arrested at his home the following day after a VW Golf he had used to travel to the crime scene was identified by police.

It belonged to an acquaintance who had leant the vehicle to Esqulant without knowing his intention.

A search of the vehicle uncovered a pair of plastic gloves Esqulant had worn in the bank.

Further evidence included samples of printed handwriting found in his home, which matched handwriting on the demand note.

A broken portion of a paving slab, retrieved from outside his house, was matched to the slab found in the package.

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Large parts of the town centre were closed as police dealt with the bomb threat in Sevenoaks

Appearing at Maidstone Crown Court for trial, Esqulant pleaded not guilty to blackmail, taking a motor vehicle without consent and driving while disqualified.

He was found guilty of all the offences and will be sentenced in November.

Detective Sergeant Jon Faulkner, the senior investigating officer for this case, said: “Esqulant’s actions not only caused extreme distress and fear to staff at the bank, but they also brought the centre of Sevenoaks to a standstill, leading to widespread disruption for residents and loss of trade for local business.

“The construction of a hoax device showed Esqulant had planned to cause maximum fear in order to try and steal a large amount of money.

“Thankfully the vigilance of the bank employees prevented him from doing so and helped us quickly track him down.”