Police have arrested a man in connection with an alleged sexual assault on a nine-year-old girl.

Officers launched an urgent appeal to find Steven Partridge, who is believed to have links with Folkestone, after the reported attack in an alleyway in Southend on Monday.

The 22-year-old has been living in the Essex town but is also known to have lived in Folkestone and the Hackney area of east London.

Officers arrested Partridge in Harlow, Essex today, and he is being held in police custody.