Detectives investigating the 2009 disappearance of former university chef Claudia Lawrence arrested a man on suspicion of perverting the course of justice this morning.
Police apprehended the 46-year-old on Wednesday, following an extensive forensic search at The Acomb Hotel, a pub in the Acomb area of York.
A Coral betting shop next door was also searched during the police operations.
A spokesman for North Yorkshire police told Sky News: “The man is currently being interviewed in custody while searches and forensic inquiries are conducted in relation to the investigation.”
The area surrounding the Acomb pub was cordoned off on Wednesday morning, with reports of a heavy police presence arriving at the scene at around 8am. The York Press reports that items inside the pub have been removed from the scene by police.
35-year-old Claudia Lawrence was last seen on the afternoon of 18th March five years ago after finishing work at the University of York, before being reported missing by her father two days later.
It is reported that Claudia was seen socialising at this pub in the weeks before her disappearance.
Earlier this year, a 59-year-old former employee of the university, named locally as Michael Snelling, was arrested on suspicion of Lawrence’s murder. Snelling has since been re-bailed.