A man has been arrested for allegedly making up that he saw a young boy being bundled into the back of a van in Surrey, which caused a major police manhunt.

Surrey Police deployed helicopters and forensics teams to Redhill, in Surrey, on Friday after a witness reported to have seen a boy being bundled into the back of a black VW Transporter van the day before.

Officers also released CCTV footage of a van being drove from the scene and a picture of an abandoned bike, but both were ruled out of the investigation in the following days.

No missing persons report was filed.

In its initial appeal, a spokesman for Surrey Police said they were “completely satisfied with the credibility” of the witness.

A man has since been arrested for perverting the course of justice.

Detective Superintendent Pete Fulton, a senior investigating officer for Surrey Police, said: “Time was of the essence which is why we asked for help from the public and media to find out what happened as soon as we could.

"Reports of this nature are extremely rare and we are the sure the public understand that when information such as this is received we treat it extremely seriously.

"It is understandable this has caused a considerable amount of concern and confusion in the area which will last beyond just these few days.

“We will continue to work with the community and realise that this has been disruptive and had a large impact, however I hope that you are reassured that we take your safety extremely seriously.”

Hours of CCTV footage were reviewed and more than 100 phone calls received by police as part of the investigation, which was codenamed Operation Bigfoot.

The man has been released on bail.