A 16-year-old boy charged in connection with the murder of six-year-old Alesha MacPhail was known to the family, it has emerged.

The teenager was arrested late on Wednesday night on suspicion of murder. Police confirmed that he had been charged in connection with the death Thursday afternoon.

He is in custody and will appear at Greenock Sheriff Court on Friday.

A dozen police were on Thursday combing the length of the beach opposite MacPhail’s grandparent’s house, where the school girl had been staying.

Their house, which is believed to be divided into three flats, one of which was used as a holiday home, has been searched by police, and today a cordon was erected around a second house.