Residents of Willington Quay said they were delighted someone had been arrested.

Ian McGillis, 39, said: "It is about time the police got some for this.

"It has been about four months and that is just too long for a crime like this.

"It is normally a very quiet area so everyone was shocked when it happened.

"It really rocked the community and I hope they have found the right person.

"There has been rumours flying about before and they have been wrong."

Edward Gosling, 71, said: "The whole thing seems bizarre, you would not think that someone would go into a house and steal a kid.

"The police should have arrested them sooner, I just hope it is the right person so they cannot do it again.

"The family must have been so upset and the whole of the area has been in shock."

One neighbour, who refused to be named, said: "It is great they have got someone for it. It was a disgusting thing to happen and I hope they get locked up for it.

"When it happened the streets around here went dead.

"You jut did not see any children because parents kept them inside.

"Hopefully now we can get back to some kind of normality and become a normal street again.

"It was a mad thing to happen and I just hope they have got the right person.

"The family must be really pleased."

The girl is now back at home with her mother, younger brother and her mother's partner.

The little girl's mother had no comment to make on the arrests.

Specially-trained police officers were able to coax from the little girl details of her abduction.

They learned she suffered repeated sexual assaults as she was driven around in a car.

The traumatised youngster was then dumped naked in a snow-covered alleyway, where she was discovered crying and bleeding by painter and decorator Geoff Brown, 37, who took her into his home.

The enquiry team began an investigation into Lee Bayley, 30, who became a suspect after he was found hanging in the attic of his home near to where the girl was abandoned.

But tragic Bayley was ruled out as a suspect after forensic teams examined his home and his car.

Mr Bayley's body was when his friend, Neil Sullivan, tried to get into the locked ground floor flat which they shared in Bewicke Road, Willington Quay.

After contacting police for assistance, officers forced entry and found Mr Bayley hanged in the loft.

His death came less than ten days after the tot was abducted and assaulted.

Police had also removed his car, a red Ford Escort, after witnesses described seeing a red 'Ali G' style hatchback driving near to where the girl was abducted.

Speaking shortly after his death, Lee Bayley's family denied he was in any way connected to the abduction.

His aunt, Angela Paolozzi, from nearby Wallsend, said: "He didn't do anything."

Another relative, who did not wish to be named, said: "He was always in trouble when he was young. He fell out with his mum and used to run away. He had a bad temper and could not be controlled.

"But that did not mean he was capable of abducting a child. Maybe the police have put two and two together and got five.

"People are too quick to jump to conclusions."