Man bailed over Lanzarote 'kidnap bid' on girl, 3

A 62-year-old man arrested in connection with the alleged abduction of a three-year-old girl in the Canary Islands has been released on bail.

He was held in London on suspicion of attempted kidnap on Wednesday after a public appeal was launched by Thames Valley Police.

In January last year a family from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, was on holiday in Costa Teguise, Lanzarote, when a man is thought to have attempted to kidnap the girl in a shopping centre.

The victim's father noticed she was missing, left a store and spotted the youngster being led around a corner into an alleyway by a man who was holding her by the hand.

He shouted out and ran up to his daughter, pulling her away from the man who then left the scene.

The family were on the beach a short time later and saw the same man, who spoke fluent English, sitting between some rocks and acting suspiciously.

The victim's father confronted the suspect, but he left before police arrived.

But the quick-thinking family took photos of the man in an attempt to identify him.

The man was bailed to return to Milton Keynes police station in early May.

PA