Town clerk bailed over missing cash

Mr Robson was a voluntary patient treated for depression

A County Durham town clerk who went missing for two months, has been arrested over missing cash from a trust fund.

Terry Robson, 55, clerk to Spennymoor town council, went missing from his home at Kirk Merrington in the early hours of Saturday, 14 June.

On 15 June Mr Robson's Renault Clio car was found parked in Alnmouth, Northumberland.

The diet-controlled diabetic, was later discovered in a Salvation Army hostel in Edinburgh on 8 August.

Durham Police have confirmed Mr Robson, who had been undergoing hospital treatment following his return to County Durham, has been arrested on suspicion of theft.

A police spokesman said: "We can confirm that a 55-year-old man from Kirk Merrington has been arrested on suspicion of theft.

"He has been questioned by officers at Newton Aycliffe police station and released on police bail, pending further inquiries.

Benefits system

"The arrest follows a compliant about the disappearance of a substantial sum of money from a personal trust fund."

The married father-of-two had walked and cycled along a coastal trail on the 85 miles journey from Alnmouth to the Scottish capital.

Detectives managed to trace him through the social security benefits system.

He had been a voluntary patient at Darlington Memorial Hospital where police said he was being treated for depression.

Durham Police have said the amount of money that is alleged to be missing is "in excess of £20,000".

More than a dozen officers from Durham Police had searched the Franciscan friary of Saint Francis in Alnmouth during their hunt for Mr Robson.