22:36

Recap: What we know so far

A 19-year-old man was arrested by police investigating the Manchester Arena bomb attack as he stepped off an aeroplane.

Detectives swooped to arrest the teenager at Liverpool John Lennon Airport on Friday afternoon and went on to search his house on Thelwall Avenue in Fallowfield.

He was detained on suspicion of offences contrary to the Terrorism Act and remains in custody for questioning. The teenager has not been named by Greater Manchester Police but neighbours said he has family links to the bomber, 22-year-old Salman Abedi. The M.E.N. understands the plane touched down at the airport from a non-EU country.

The teenager is the 23rd person to be arrested in connection with the atrocity on May 22, in which 22 people were killed and dozens more seriously injured. Abedi detonated a nail bomb he was carrying in a rucksack in a foyer area of the Manchester Arena as fans were walking out following a concert by US pop star Ariana Grande.

The latest arrest came just 24 hours after police chiefs revealed mass murderer Abedi walked around the city for hours with the device primed to explode before he carried out the attack.

Investigating officers also revealed that talks with authorities in the Middle East about speaking to Abedi’s younger brother Hashem Abedi, who was detained in Libya after the attack, were continuing. A police officer stood guard outside the suspect’s semi-detached house on Thelwall Avenue as a forensic search team worked inside.

A small black hatchback car parked on the driveway was also examined. The house is just 200 yards around the corner from where Abedi lived on Elsmore Road.

The 19-year-old is understood to live there with his mother and brother. A neighbour said the family were Libyan and had lived there for around 10 years. The neighbour said: “The boys who live there are related to Salman Abedi through their father. Everyone knows that. Everyone here knows there is a family link.”

A woman and a young were later taken out of the house and led to a waiting car by detectives. Both covered their faces from photographers outside, but it’s not believed they were arrested.

Another neighbour said: “I know that they are Libyan people who live there but I do not know their names. It is two children and their mother. They are a normal family to be honest and get on with their lives. I only know them to say hello to in the street.”

Letters informing residents that a warrant was executed on the street meanwhile were posted by police through letterboxes.

They read: “These tactics are a necessary and important part of the ongoing investigation into the recent tragic events at Manchester Arena.” Police patrols have been stepped up in the area. There have been no criminal charges brought as yet over the bomb attack.