A POLICE helicopter searched for more than an hour for a driver who allegedly stole a car from Crabbs Cross in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The car was abandoned at about 12.40am on the island at the junction of Alcester Highway and Rough Hill Drive after it was taken from Well Close.

A police spokesman said officers left their cars when they discovered the Metro and gave chase on foot with police dogs but did not find the man until about an hour later after a helicopter used its heat-seeking equipment to locate him in undergrowth.

A man was arrested and is in police custody.