A teenage girl who did not know where she was and called 999 to report that a man had raped her was found after police deployed a drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera. The 16-year-old called emergency services in the early hours of Saturday to say she was on land somewhere in Boston, Lincolnshire, with her attacker.

Lincolnshire police were then able to trace the missing “high risk” girl to the Brown’s Road area of the town after recognising the description she gave of a levelled factory site. She could not give her location, but described being with her attacker in an old industrial complex surrounded by a high fence.

The force said the thermal drone was used to find the girl and guide officers to her within minutes. After picking up two heat sources, it led officers to the location of the girl and the suspected attacker, near the scene of the alleged crime.

High risk missing girl contacts police states she been raped & is still with the offender. Describes location thought to be huge old industrial complex surrounded by 8ft fence. Our #thermal #drone makes the find in mins. Officers guided in. 1 in custody and child safeguarded. pic.twitter.com/Vv3uULzVW1 — Lincs Police Drones (@lincsCOPter) October 6, 2018

A man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of rape and remains in custody, officers said. They added that the girl was being supported by specially trained officers.

The incident follows Lincolnshire police force’s discovery of a man with dementia earlier this week using the same technology. Officers were able to find him in a field in the dark.