Four men from London have been charged with robbery and remanded in custody following an attack at a bookmakers in Ramsgate.

The incident is said to have happened at Corals in Newington Road just after 9.40am last Thursday where staff and customers were told to lie on the ground by offenders who made off with nearly £500 from the till and £5 from the wallet of a staff member. Property and money has since been recovered and no-one was hurt.

Arrests were made shortly afterwards in marshland near Monkton following a pursuit on foot by police officers and dog handlers.

Supt Chris Hogben said that a vehicle involved in the incident was tracked via the automatic number plate recognition system in Thanet, a camera which scans all vehicles travelling past it and cross refers the details with nationally-stored information.

He said: "The police and Thanet council have invested heavily in this equipment and these events clearly demonstrate its worth.

"Very quickly, we get an idea of a vehicle's movements and are provided with quality, immediate intelligence. From beginning to end, this has been a very good piece of police work by my officers."

The four men charged with robbery at Dover magistrates court on Saturday are Michael Hermitt, 20, of Antigua Walk, Upper Norwood; Stewart Robinson, 20, of no fixed address; Dwayne Lock, 18, of Wychwood Way, Upper Norwood; and Jonathan Tetteh, of Crown Dale in Upper Norwood.