A 21-year-old St Austell man has been arrested in connection with a series of knifepoint robberies in Cornwall.

He was arrested in Par yesterday afternoon on suspicion of robbery and remains in custody at Camborne police station.

Detectives are investigating five robberies which have taken place at business premises in Reawla, Cubert, Scorrier, Porthtowan and Lanner since 31 January.

In all cases an offender targeted isolated premises and stole or attempted to steal cash from the till after brandishing a knife to staff.

The most recent incident happened at Lanner Stores in Lanner on 16 February. A suspect entered the store, threatened the cashier with a knife and demanded cash before leaving empty handed.

A previous incident occurred in Scorrier around 1pm on Sunday 8 February when a suspect left with a few hundred pounds in cash after threatening a cashier at the petrol station.

Around 12.30pm on the same day there was an attempted robbery at Cubert Post Office and Store and on Friday 13 February a similar incident occurred in Porthtowan Village Store when around £300 was stolen during a robbery at 4pm.

An earlier incident took place at Reawla Stores around 5pm on Saturday 31 January when around £100 was stolen.

Police are appealing for witnesses and or anyone with information to contact them on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111, quoting crime reference CR/11145/15.