A man has been arrested in Bradford in connection with an incident in which benches were stolen from a station.

Six benches were taken from Ingrow West Station, on the historic Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, on the evening of April 3.

On Thursday afternoon, police attended an address in Laisterdyke, where they arrested a 51-year-old man on suspicion of theft.

Officers also recovered a quantity of benches, and a Mercedes van was seized.

On Wednesday, the Telegraph & Argus ran an appeal showing a team of men wearing high-visibility jackets loading seats worth thousands of pounds into the back of a van.

Bosses at the railway released security camera footage in a bid to help catch the culprits.

Speaking yesterday, Michael Tarran, station safety officer and clerk of works at the railway, welcomed the police’s swift action.

He said: “I got a call about 6pm last night saying that they had got someone in custody.”

Mr Tarran said he understood that the benches that had been recovered were in a “smashed up” state.

Mr Tarran, considering the possibility that the recovered benches were the same ones that were stolen from the railway, said: “If they are the same benches, it won’t just be a case of building them again – we’ll have to prime and paint them and then we’ll have to sort the situation of how to nail them down so they can’t be stolen in future.”

Mr Tarran said: “We are grateful for all the publicity from the Telegraph & Argus, the Keighley News and other media. It was manic on Wednesday doing all the interviews. But it’s wonderful news that the police have taken swift action.

“It would have cost us £500 each for the benches if we’d had to have them cast again.”

Police say the arrested man has been released on bail and inquiries are ongoing.