Joseph McCann kidnap victims believed to be teen girls

Two teenage girls were earlier forced into a car in the Cheshire town, police hunting "extremely dangerous" fugitive Joseph McCann said.

Officers investigating the kidnap and rape of three women have arrested him after a stand-off with police overnight following the new abduction.

Residents described how police descended en masse on a rural lane near Congleton in Cheshire after the 34-year-old suspect fled up a tree.

The black Fiat Punto made off from the town centre at around 6.45pm but was spotted and pursued by officers before it hit another car and the driver fled, leaving the victims unhurt but "extremely shaken", Cheshire Police said.

The suspect was found in the tree in Smithy Lane, a country road just outside the town, following road checks and closures.

Negotiators and paramedics were deployed and he was eventually taken into custody at around 3am on Monday morning.

Scotland Yard detectives launched a hunt for suspected rapist and kidnapper McCann after he snatched two women in their 20s off the streets in north London on April 25 in separate incidents.

The 34-year-old is also suspected of abducting a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint in Watford in the early hours of April 21 and raping her.

Cheshire resident Robert Burns watched the scene unfold after police officers had checked his outbuildings and wheelie bins in search of the suspect.

The 45-year-old said:

Andrew Kidd, 75, who has a farm in Smithy Lane, said that at about 8.30pm on Sunday he was told by police to stay inside his property.

A woman living nearby, who did not wish to be named, said:

Asked if she found the situation unnerving, she said:

Ann Marie Baylan, 53, said she was at home with her children when police arrived on Lomas Way - a new housing estate which is separated from Smithy Lane by a large field.She said:

Another neighbour on Lomas Way reported seeing lights on the field at about 2am.

One man said he was watching Antiques Roadshow with his wife when they heard the helicopter circling.

He said:

Officers believe McCann was being hidden by a friend or family member.

The Ministry of Justice launched an urgent review after it emerged McCann may have been wrongly released from prison.

He was freed automatically halfway through a three-year sentence for burglary and theft - but should have gone before a parole board, it is understood.

McCann was subject to a life-long licence after he was released from prison in 2017 having served 10 years of an indeterminate sentence for public protection for a previous aggravated burglary.

Scotland Yard offered a reward of up to #20,000 for information leading to his arrest and prosecution.