A 49-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Gaia Pope, Dorset Police have said.

The arrest was announced hours after police found "items of women's clothing" in a field.

Dorset Police said the suspect, who is believed to know Miss Pope, was arrested on Thursday afternoon. The suspect was named by his own family as Paul Elsey, 49, who is the uncle of Nathan Elsey, a 19-year-old actor and friend of Miss Pope.

Greg Elsey, the suspect's father, said his son was '110 per cent innocent'. Mr Elsey said he had travelled from his home in Romsey in Hampshire to Poole in Dorset to pick up his son and take him to a law firm. He was then arrested.

Mr Elsey said: "It's disgusting how the police have performed. I wanted to make sure Paul had got legal representation before he was taken away. I asked Paul before he was arrested if he was all right. He said 'yes, I'm fine'.

"He's protested his innocence 110 per cent and I have 110 per cent belief that he will be released when they find out he has done nothing."

A major inquiry is under way to find Gaia, 19, who vanished from the Swanage area of Dorset on the afternoon of November 7.