A man threatened two reporters and snatched their car keys after they exposed him for allegedly trying to sell historic lights which were removed for restoration.

The salesman branded Jody Doherty-Cove and Connor Stringer, of Brighton daily The Argus, “two little f**cking muppets” and demanded their phone after they reported his attempted dealings to Brighton & Hove Council.

The man is now subject to an investigation with the potential of criminal proceedings after the investigation led by Jody, who had received a tip-off about two historic lights from Brighton seafront which had been put up for sale on Facebook – despite contractors being urged to work to restore them after they were removed for safety reasons last month.

He contacted the seller posing as a heritage enthusiast who wanted the pieces of history for his garden, and subsequently passed a recording of the call to the council after agreeing to meet the man.

Jody and Connor then drove to the house of the man, who gave his name only as “Joe”, to capture the moment the lanterns were seized by a council worker.

But the duo were clocked by “Joe”, who ran over and grabbed the keys from the ignition after opening the door of the car they were in.

He then demanded the journalists handed over a phone which they had used to take pictures.

The incident was captured by the reporters in a video published on The Argus’s website.

Describing the incident, Jody told HTFP: “The furious seller stormed towards the car screaming, shouting and swearing. He had spotted us taking pictures and began ringing my phone as, by this point, he had drawn the dots.

“I was startled when he managed opened the door and stunned when he took the car keys.

“We were forced to call the police when traffic began to be held up and he made a threat to ‘ring someone’ – with our car keys in his hand.

“How the lights managed to get in the hands of this man is now subject to an investigation with the potential of criminal proceedings.

“The council leader has also threatened to tear up a £15 million contract to the company removing seafront lights following the story.”

In a first-person piece about their experience, Connor wrote: “The friendly salesman-like demeanour he had just moments ago had now vanished.

“Before we could pull away, he flung the door open, reached into the car and pointed his finger at my colleague.

“‘You took a picture of me, you can’t take a picture of me, buddy,’ he said.

“’Give me your phone, you are like two little f**cking muppets mate.’”

At that point, Jody and Connor called the police.

Connor added: “Realising he had no alternative, he threw the keys back in the car, demanding we delete the photos one last time.

“I pulled away, stunned by what had happened.”

Discussing the incident, a council spokesman told The Argus: “Our thanks go to the member of the public who returned the lanterns to us as soon as they understood they had been given them in error.”