A 52-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of missing schoolgirl Amanda Dowler, Surrey Police said.

The man, from Ashford, Middlesex, was arrested just before 1000 BST on Thursday and is being questioned at a Surrey police station.

Amanda - also known as Milly - was last seen on 21 March walking home from the railway station at nearby Walton-on-Thames.

After sharing a plate of chips with a friend, the 13-year-old phoned her father, Robert, to say she was heading home but never arrived.

Click here for a larger map of what happened Enlarge image

Despite a massive police hunt and a high-profile media campaign, no progress had been made in the hunt for the schoolgirl.

Police said Milly's parents - Sally and Robert Dowler - have experienced "an emotional roller coaster" since their daughter's disappearance.

And the Dowlers themselves said the agony was particularly intense when a body was found near the family home - and then turned out not to be Milly.

Friends and family have appeared in the media to ask for news of her, and even her favourite pop star Will Young made a personal appeal for her return.

Distressed girl

The Sun newspaper also offered a �100,000 reward for information about the missing schoolgirl.

Police have also been trying to trace a man in a blue Saab car seen near the scene when she disappeared.

There were also reports from witnesses who saw a girl of a similar description to Milly looking distressed on the day she vanished.

Specialist search teams have completed 165 inspections of local sites, including local rivers.

Police investigating the teenager's disappearance arrested a 36-year-old man in Chertsey, Surrey, in May but he was released on police bail without charge.