Detectives launched a nationwide search on Sunday for father-of-four David Newton, 55, after he left his home on Yew Tree Walk and headed south.

He was wanted for questioning about a sex attack and attempted murder of a 52-year-old woman on Ilkley Moor in June and an attack on a 16-year-old girl in 1997 on parkland in Halton, Leeds.

Officers caught his Land Rover Freelander on camera heading south-west on the M5 and detectives made a series of public appeals for help to track him down.

He was spotted checking into a guest house in St Ives, Cornwall, on Saturday before checking out the following day.

West Yorkshire Police’s homicide and major enquiry team (HMET) led the search and drafted in officers from Devon and Cornwall Constabulary along with police dogs, helicopters and the coastguard.

Detectives recovered his car on Monday and it is understood Newton turned himself in on Tuesday by contacting police from a public telephone box.

A police spokesman said Newton was arrested at 4.15pm in Hayle, Cornwall, on Tuesday and was brought back to West Yorkshire for questioning.