POLICE hunting a serial rapist who is thought to have attacked at least 10 women and girls in the South of England are holding a 48-year-old Kent man.

The man, from a village in east Kent, was arrested on the M20 motorway at Maidstone late last night. He is being questioned today at a Kent police station.

The assaults have taken place in several areas of the South East - in Kent, Surrey, London and the Thames Valley. The first victim is thought to have been a 10-year-old Ashford schoolgirl. She was raped on the town's Stanhope estate in November last year.

More than 150 officers from five police forces have been working on the inquiry - nicknamed Operation Orb. It is the biggest manhunt for a sex attacker since the Yorkshire Ripper inquiry.

Detectives are investigating nine rapes and one attempted rape over the past 12 months.

At a press conference at Maidstone Police Station today, Det Supt Mark Warwick, said: "It is a significant development but obviously we have to treat it as part of an ongoing inquiry. This is a key, significant event for us at this moment in time."