Fostered teen arrested over Parsons Green Tube attack 'had been in trouble with police before'

'Most of the street had complained about him at some point in the past few months'

A teenager arrested in connection with the Parsons Green attack had previously been in trouble with the police, according to neighbours of the couple who fostered him.

The name of the teenager hasn’t yet been released, but on Saturday police carried out a search at an address in Sunbury-on-Thames in Surrey.

The house is owned by foster care couple Penelope and Ronald Jones, aged 71 and 88 respectively, who were previously awarded MBEs by the Queen for services to children and families.

Two people have been arrested in connection with the attack in which 30 people were injured in an explosion on a District Line Tube train at Parsons Green.

Police confirmed an 18-year-old man was detained in the departure area of the port of Dover in connection with the attack on Saturday morning.

Serena Barber, 47, who lives in a property backing onto the Jones's house in Sunbury said: "All I know is that they have two boys at the moment, both are foreign. One is very quiet and polite, the other who is 18 is awful."

Another neighbour, who gave his name as Richard, told the Mirror: "One of the men living there was a real troublemaker."

He added: "Most of the street had complained about him at some point in the past few months. "He was in trouble with the police a few times."

He said that they had heard the suspect was arrested near Parsons Green, where the attack took place.

He described the couple as “lovely”, but added that it sometimes seemed some of the people they took in were taking advantage of them.

"As far as I'm aware, he didn't work or anything, he just sponged off them. I imagine they will have been very shocked by the police today, Ronald in particular is nearly 90 - he's a frail man. You have to feel sorry for them."

The couple were awarded their MBEs in 2010 for their services to children and families. The couple had taken in at least 268 children over four decades, according to an undated interview with Elmbridge CAN, a group which aims to "to build a culture of welcome to refugees."

In the interview, Ms Jones said fostering "had its ups and downs," adding: "They're all children, it doesn't matter if they're sky blue or with pink dots on them - they just need to be loved."

Jim Adaway, a family friend, said the Joneses recently returned to foster caring to help resettle youngsters from overseas.

The 37-year-old told the Press Association: "They have been here a lot longer than me.

"All I know is that they gave up the fostering and someone got in touch with them and they started taking kids again, refugees, about a year ago."

Ms Jones had been struggling with one of the children in their care, he added.

"I think Penny was getting in touch with [the authorities] saying 'I cannot handle this one'."

The suspect was arrested by Kent Police under the Terrorism Act and remains in custody at a London police station.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu described the arrest as “very significant”.