POLICE were today questioning a man after a Darwen mother was threatened with a knife in front of her three terrified children.

A spokesman said the man had been arrested in the south of England on Saturday night.

He was driven to Blackburn police station yesterday and was due to be questioned there by detectives today.

Anna Jones, of Richmond Terrace, Darwen, was threatened at her home by a man with a knife at 3am on Thursday as her three young children watched.

She managed to activate a panic alarm which had been installed following a similar attack two weeks earlier.

On Saturday police said they wanted to speak to her husband Aledwyn Jones, aged 43, also known as David Henry Husband.

After the attack police scoured the Richmond Terrace area and scrambled the Lancashire police force helicopter to take part in the search.

Mrs Jones and her children are staying at a police safe house, where she was said yesterday to be too upset and frightened to speak about the incidents. But a police spokesman said she was relieved someone was in custody.

The couple moved to Richmond Terrace from Oswaldtwistle in March and were in dispute with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council last month over schooling for their children.

Det Sgt Neil Hunter said a risk assessment had been carried out on Mrs Jones' safety before the attack.

He added: "The option of moving her was considered but not thought to be feasible.