A man who has been on the run for 19 years after a £1 million raid on a security van has been arrested in America.

Eddie Maher, known as "Fast Eddie", was arrested in the Ozarks, an area of the central eastern US which includes Arkansas and Missouri. Maher vanished after the theft from a Securicor van in Felixstowe, Suffolk, in 1993.

A spokesman for Suffolk Police said: "We are liaising with the US authorities regarding the detention of Eddie Maher, who police wish to speak to in connection with a security van robbery in Felixstowe in 1993."

Maher, 56, is believed to have been working in the area for a cable company under a false name at the time of his arrest. It is thought he had been living under the name Mike Maher.

He vanished in 1993 after the alleged crime, which happened outside Lloyds Bank in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe. It is thought a colleague made a delivery to the bank while Maher waited outside in the vehicle. The van vanished and was later found empty on the seafront.

Police believe 50 bags, containing £1 million in coins, £20 and £10 notes, had been transferred into a Toyota Previa Space Cruiser vehicle with false number plates, stolen earlier in London.

The Toyota was then driven to a car park on the nearby Landguard peninsula. It is believed the money was transferred again into a car later found burnt-out in Essex.

A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman confirmed Maher had been arrested on immigration charges.

FBI representative Bridgette Patton told CNN: "We were led to believe that the individual in question could possibly be Eddie Maher, a fugitive from the United Kingdom."

Maher's son, Lee King, speaking to KSPR television in Springfield, Missouri, said: "My dad is one of the nicest guys you'll meet, he's only ever done what's good for us.