WORRIED parents and teachers have welcomed the arrest of a man in connection with the search for a sex pest who has been approaching schoolgirls.

On Saturday, the man was arrested as part of police inquiries into two separate incidents at Sandbach High School which shocked pupils, parents and staff.

He has since been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Initial fears were sparked after a man described as between 30 and 35, of slim build and wearing a 'beanie' hat, entered the school through an open fire exit, but fled after he was approached by staff, and two days later a man was seen making sexual gestures to schoolgirls outside a ground-floor window at the school.

Police upped patrols near to the school after a 14-year-old female pupil from Sandbach High School was approached by a man wielding a knife in Elworth on Saturday March 10, less than 100 yards from her home.

Sandbach High School deputy headteacher Cath Bradshaw welcomed the news of the arrest: 'We are very pleased that the police have made progress with this incident and both staff and pupils are most reassured by their continued presence at the end of the school day.

'We hope their investigations into the other incidents will continue to progress and that the perpetrators will soon be found.'

Inspector Mark Gammage, who is leading the investigation, said: 'We will be maintaining a high police presence in the area over the next few weeks, especially around the local schools.'

Fears for Sandbach children's safety were heightened last week after another 14-year-old schoolgirl was grabbed by a man as she walked home on Hind Heath Lane, early in the evening of Monday, March 12, but police neither confirmed or denied whether they were treating the incident as being connected to the knife approach or the incidents at the high school.