Two men have been jailed for robbing the award-winning Parkfoot Garage, at West Malling, Kent.

At Maidstone Crown Court, Joshua Thomas and Kean Lee were told their sentences would have been six years, but because they admitted all the charges it was reduced to four, meaning they will be available for release after two years.

The two men robbed the Spar store at the site on Wednesday February 17, threatening staff before making off with about £1,400 in cash, cigarettes and alcohol.

Owner David Charman said after the robbery: “It was a difficult experience for all of us, particularly for my two staff who were on duty. Luckily there were no injuries and no damage done, only aggressive behaviour to staff.

“They got away with about £1,400 of cash, single packets of cigarettes, bottles of alcohol and all of our change, such as £25 in 1p coins and £35 in 2p coins - basically all they could carry in two heavy duty Spar plastic bags.

“The staff acted absolutely as per their training and opened till drawers for them. It’s unfortunate, but these things happen.”

He added that the quality of CCTV at the store was so good that police were able to identify the robbers immediately, despite their attempts to cover their faces.

He said: “My staff realised that one had been in the shop earlier and bought alcohol and was still wearing the same clothes.

“They had both been involved in trying to shoplift from us on Valentine’s day, so we had printed pictures for all the staff to watch out for.”

Commenting after the sentencing, he said: “We considered this to be a fair result, given the distress caused to my staff.”