Policeman Scott Barnes got a big surprise when he was asked to model a stolen football strip for a media appeal.

He took one look at the blue-and-white striped shirts in the lost property department of Worthing police station and realised they belonged to the team he played for.

In another uncanny coincidence, the £400 kit had been stolen from the boot of his brother's car when it was parked outside the Mulberry pub in Goring, Worthing.

PC Barnes, 28, plays for Loxwood in Division One of the Worthing and Horsham Sunday League.

He said: "I gave the kit to my younger brother Gary, who played for the team because I couldn't that week.

"Unfortunately his car was broken into and the kit went missing.

"It was only when the property clerk at the police station asked me to model the kit that I realised I played in it week in, week out."

The 13 shirts, 14 pairs of shorts and 21 pairs of socks were recovered by police from Langbury Lane in Ferring.

Loxwood's secretary Mathew Wroe said he was delighted to get the kits back.

He said: "Because of the amount of games we've got at the end of the season due to the weather, we were a bit worried about the kits never getting washed."