KENT police have released a CCTV image of a man they would like to question after thieves drove away with £1.5 million of goods destined for needy children.

The gang posed as a bogus haulage firm and gained the trust of a Belgian shipping company before making off with three containers at Thames Europort in Crossways at Greenhithe, near Dartford.

One of the containers was carrying furniture for a Cambridge National Children's Home.

The containers disappeared in the middle of November and the shipping company did not discover they were missing until they failed to turn up in Zeebrugge the next day.

The gang made more than six deliveries for the Belgian shipping company during the week before the theft.

The shipping company tried to contact the bogus haulage company, Tudor Transport, in east London, but with no success.

DC Nick Brown said: "We are dealing with a well organised team who have over a period of a week gained the trust of the company enabling them to simply drive away with the goods."

DC Brown said the gang could have come from anywhere in the country. The CCTV stills show the man seen driving the container out of the port on the day the theft happened.

He said: "The trucking industry is a very close-knit community and it is possible lorry drivers throughout the country may have come across the man in the picture."

Anyone with information is asked to telephone 01322 283154 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.