A PRISONER who escaped near Salford Priors a fortnight ago has been arrested by Northamptonshire Police.

Carl Townsend, 23, who escaped from a prison van by tricking a guard into opening the door of his cell, was arrested at an address in Northampton last Wednesday for being unlawfully at large.

Townsend, from Northampton, was being transferred from Rye Hill Prison near Rugby to Long Larten in Worcestershire when he escaped on the A46 and made off towards Stratford.

And, as the Chronicle reported last week, he tricked a woman into giving him a lift into Alcester, claiming he was having a heart attack, before making his way to his home town.

A Northamptonshire police spokesman said Townsend, who was serving a four-year stretch for aggravated burglary, was being held in custody at a police station in the town.