A FATHER who sparked a nationwide search after he drove off with his teenage daughters following a family row was last night arrested in a phonebox.

Officers went to the kiosk in Helmsley, North Yorkshire, late yesterday afternoon, where 47-year-old Peter Elgey was speaking to a police officer from Durham Constabulary.

He had already called his wife, Edith, at their home in Spennymoor, County Durham.

Mr Elgey, who had earlier been described as suffering from paranoia, had a knife and was arrested on suspicion of carrying an offensive weapon.

His daughters Roseanne, 13, and Marie, 16, who has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair, were found safe and well in Mr Elgey's Toyota Hiace van, which was in a car park nearby.

A search of the vehicle uncovered two more knives and a spade, which Mr Elgey is believed to have taken from the house in St Paul's Gardens when he drove off at 5.45am yesterday.

Last night, Mrs Elgey travelled to North Yorkshire to be reunited with her children.

Detectives were also planning to talk to Roseanne, to find out what had happened during the day.

Yesterday lunchtime the head of County Durham's CID, Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Scott, issued an appeal for help in tracing the trio because there was concern for their welfare. He told a Press conference that Mrs Elgey said her husband had been suffering from paranoia in recent weeks and had taken to carrying knives and sleeping with one under his pillow.

He said Mr Elgey had driven off with the girls, but there was no evidence they had been forced to go.

The events followed an argument with his wife the previous night about a holiday.

Det Chief Supt Scott also revealed - although at the time he asked reporters not to publish the fact - that police had put live traces on mobile phones the three were carrying in an attempt to find out where they were. He said one of the phones had been on for a while and had been traced to the Thirsk and Knaresborough areas of North Yorkshire.

A force spokesman said last night: "Mr Elgey rang home in the late afternoon and initially spoke to his wife.

"He then talked, by telephone, to a Durham officer for something in excess of ten minutes. During that time, officers from North Yorkshire were directed to a telephone box in Helmsley.

"The officers spoke to Mr Elgey and found he had a knife. He was arrested on suspicion of carrying an offensive weapon and was taken to Northallerton police station,where he is currently being held."

Det Chief Supt Scott said Mr Elgey's welfare was a priority and that he would undergo a medical examination at the police station.