A man has been arrested in connection with an incident in which benches were stolen from a station.

Six benches were taken from Ingrow West Station, on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, on the evening of April 3.

Last Thursday afternoon, police attended an address in Laisterdyke, where they arrested a 51-year-old man on suspicion of theft.

Officers also recovered a quantity of benches, and a Mercedes van was seized.

That day the Keighley News had carried an appeal showing a team of men wearing high-visibility jackets loading seats worth thousands of pounds into the back of a van.

Bosses at the railway released security camera footage in a bid to help catch the culprits.

Michael Tarran, station safety officer and clerk of works at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, welcomed the police’s swift action.

He said: “I got a call saying that they had got someone in custody.”

Mr Tarran said he understood that the benches that had been recovered were in a “smashed up” state.

Mr Tarran, considering the possibility that the recovered benches were the same ones that were stolen from the railway, said: “If they are the same benches, it won’t just be a case of building them again – we’ll have to prime and paint them and then we’ll have to sort the situation of how to nail them down so they can’t be stolen in future.”

Mr Tarran said: “We are grateful for all the publicity from the Keighley News and other media.

“It was manic doing all the interviews. But it’s such wonderful news that the police have taken swift action.

He added: “It would have cost us at least £500 for each of the benches if we’d had to have them cast again.”

Police have indicated the the arrested man has been released on bail and inquiries are ongoing.