Chatham residents were woken by a police helicopter which was scrambled to search for a burglary suspect.

Reports said an offender tried to break into a house in Charlotte Close, Walderslade, at 12.30am on Sunday.

A police spokesman said it appeared someone had tried the door but couldn’t get in.

Police used dogs to search a large area of scrubland, thought to be in or near Capstone Valley, and enlisted the help of the police helicopter with thermal imaging equipment at 2am.

After more than two hours the suspect was not found.