KENT Police has urged the county's public to take care where they leave belongings and think before throwing rubbish away after a spate of alerts since the London bombings.

Police say that items carelessly left or discarded could prompt a major emergency alert at a time of heightened vigilance following the terrorist attacks on July 7.

Kent Police has had to deal with 25 such calls in 10 days, although it says members of the public have been "quite proper" in raising the alarm about unattended or suspicious packages.

However, all of the items have turned out to be harmless.

But dealing with them has taken up the emergency services’ time and caused major disruption as roads have been closed or areas cordoned off.

In several cases, army bomb disposal teams have been called in to deal with unattended packages.

Assistant Chief Constable David Ainsworth said: "People are quite right to report suspicious items to us and we are grateful for their vigilance in helping to keep Kent safe.

"We urge people to remain vigilant and tell us if they see something suspicious.

"We are now also asking everyone to play their part in avoiding unnecessary alerts, by looking after their property and keeping it with them and by only leaving rubbish in the proper place at the right time."