A NORTH-EAST charity worker has been arrested by border police in Germany.

Rod Jones, 57, from Middlesbrough, his Romanian wife, Gabriella, and 13-year-old Ashley Clough, who was accompanying them, were detained at the crossing point at Passau, between Austria and Germany, yesterday.

They were on their way back to Britain from a charity mission to Romania.

The police patrol confiscated photographs and video footage Mr Jones was carrying of orphans and street children in Romania. His Jeep was also dismantled.

Last night, Mr Jones said: "They have got my passport, they have got Ashley's.

"We don't have extra drink or cigarettes.

"They have all the panels off the doors, the panels off the roof. They have torn the dashboard out and even opened the spare tyre.''

Mr Jones, whose charity Convoy Aid has taken living essentials to the impoverished Romanian community of Iash since 1990, was on his way back from a Christmas visit to the town.

He, Gabrielle and Ashley, who is from Norton, near Stockton, left Teesside just before Christmas. They were following a lorry loaded with 22 tons of foodstuffs, medicines and bedding, which were gifts from people in the North-East.

As British Consular officials in Munich carried out inquiries on behalf of the Foreign Office in London, police in Bavaria compounded the mystery by denying any knowledge of Mr Jones.

It emerged last night that the charity worker may have fallen victim to the semi-autonomous Schleierfahndung, or special border patrol, a mix of police and customs who often work undercover.

Mr Jones said he takes photographs of the children he helps, to show people where their contributions go.

Mr Jones said: "They have taken us to a holding place. They have found the photographs of the children and now they are talking about international paedophiles."

He added: "We had just driven out of Austria into Germany. This police car came alongside then pulled in front of us, a sign in English in the back saying, 'Follow us.'

"We had to pull off the motorway and there were seven or eight police officers with cars in a lay-by with tables laid out. I don't know what is going to happen."

The Foreign Office said last night it was seeking more information.

A spokesman said: "We need to know what has happened to these individuals before we can take the matter up with the German authorities."