A man has been arrested in connection with the attempted abduction of a woman in her 60s in Dublin early yesterday morning.

The man, who is 20 years old, was arrested in the Blanchardstown area on suspicion of false imprisonment.

The woman was walking along Blackhorse Avenue at Martin's Grove near the Phoenix Park at around 7.30am yesterday when she came across a man standing beside a silver car that had the boot open.

The man, who was believed to be wearing a white t-shirt and dark trousers, attacked the woman and forced her into the boot.

The woman managed to keep her legs out, which prevented the boot from being closed, so the man then dragged her out and tried to force her into the back seat of the car.

The woman's screams were heard by people nearby and a motorist stopped.

Gardaí have arrested a male (30) in relation to the assault and attempted abduction of a female yesterday in Dublin 7. A sequence of information-gathering checkpoints were carried out this morning at the location of the incident. For more information https://t.co/jzKbXE2xvu pic.twitter.com/vNzpf3hXSl — Garda Info (@gardainfo) January 7, 2020

The attacker then threw her against a wall, got into the silver saloon car and drove away.

Gardaí began a criminal investigation and set up an incident room.

They gathered CCTV footage, interviewed a number of witnesses and issued a public appeal for witnesses to come forward.

The man was detained earlier today and is being held at Blanchardstown Garda Station. He can be questioned for up to 24 hours.

A car has also been seized as part of the investigation and it is being examined.

Gardaí are continuing to appeal to anyone who was in the vicinity of Blackhorse Avenue on 6 January between 6am and 8am, or anyone who may have information about the incident, to come forward.