The Tony Martin case caused a massive public outcry

He has not been charged with any offence, and has been released on police bail.

Cambridgeshire Police would only confirm a 59-year-old man was arrested in the Wisbech area on Thursday.

They said he had been held on suspicion of theft from a motor vehicle, and released on police bail.

Anyone who knows Tony is aware he'd have nothing to do with stealing or with anything stolen Malcolm Starr

Martin's friend Malcolm Starr told the Daily Mirror: "Tony is in good spirits considering the circumstances. But not surprisingly he's rather unhappy about all this.

"He wouldn't have minded if they'd charged him as he knows he's done absolutely nothing wrong.

"Anyone who knows Tony is aware he'd have nothing to do with stealing or with anything stolen."

Martin served three years of a five-year term for shooting dead intruder Fred Barras, 16, at Bleak House, his remote farmhouse, in 1999.

A second burglar Brendan Fearon, 33, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, was seriously injured in the incident.

There was a huge public outcry when Martin was found guilty of murder at Norfolk Crown Court and jailed for life for the killing at his Emneth Hungate home.

The charge and sentence were later reduced on appeal to five years' imprisonment for manslaughter.

He was freed six months ago.

Martin recently expressed an interest in standing as an MP, although House of Commons rules prevent people sentenced to more than one year's imprisonment from standing.