A 52-year-old man was being questioned by detectives last night in connection with the disappearance of missing schoolgirl Amanda Dowler.

The suspect, who was arrested at an undisclosed prison yesterday morning, is being held at a Surrey police station.

The 13-year-old, known as Milly, vanished while walking home from the train station in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on March 21.

Yesterday's development comes after detectives have struggled to make any significant breakthrough in the baffling case.

Milly's parents, IT consultant Bob, 50, and teacher Sally, 43, have made heart-breaking appeals through the media for information.

A 36-year-old man from Chertsey, Surrey, who was arrested last month, was later released on police bail.

Sources close to the investigation said it was impossible to judge how significant the latest arrest was until the man had been questioned. He is understood not to be a friend or relative of the Dowler family