POLICE investigating the abduction and assault of a six-year-old girl taken from her bath have arrested a man.

The 34-year-man was arrested at an address in Blyth, Northumberland, on suspicion of abduction and serious sexual assault.

He was being questioned by detectives this morning at North Shields Police Station.

The girl was taken from the bathroom of her home in Willington Quay, on December 27, driven around North Tyneside, and sexually assaulted.

She was found naked and distressed a short time later in a back lane.

Following the abduction, Detective Chief Inspector Jim Napier, of Northumbria Police, said the little girl had been able to give a description of her ordeal.

He said: "From the outset of this investigation we had medical and other evidence to support the little girl's account of what happened.

"This has been strengthened by further interviews where she has been very brave in trying to help officers build up a more complete picture of what happened that night.

"We are able to say that after being taken from the bathroom of her home, she was driven around in a car and repeatedly sexually assaulted by a man who then abandoned her in the back lane where she was found.

"This reinforces my view that we are looking for a potentially dangerous individual who may have deliberately set out to abuse a child. I remain confident that he will be caught."

Last month, a man and woman from Lincolnshire and a Tyneside man were arrested.

The Tyneside man was cautioned for perverting the course of justice, while the Lincolnshire man and the woman were bailed pending inquiries.

This morning, it was also revealed that a 25-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.