A MAN was in custody last night after a joint police operation by English and Scottish police forces to trace a six-year-old boy who was thought to have been abducted.

Detectives from both sides of the Border had joined forces in a bid to trace the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

He was allegedly snatched from his Liverpool home on Sunday. Grampian Police announced they had arrested a man in connection with the incident.

However, they stressed that the boy was believed to be in the Aberdeen area and it was not thought he had been hurt.

Officers from Merseyside Police were on their way north last night to interview the man in Aberdeen.