DETECTIVES today arrested 47-year-old Stephen Farrow on suspicion of murdering Thornbury vicar the Reverend John Suddards.

Mr Farrow was detained at a property in Folkestone at 4.20am after officers received information on his whereabouts from a member of the public.

West Mercia police today also revealed that Mr Farows had also been arrested in relation to the murder of 77-year-old Worcestershire woman Betty Yates on January 4 in Bewdley.

Police launched a nationwide manhunt yesterday after the Rev John Suddards, 59, was found stabbed to death at his vicarage in the South Gloucestershire town of Thornbury on Tuesday.

Officers from Avon and Somerset Police, in conjunction with Kent Police, went to an address in Black Bull Road where Farrow was arrested on suspicion of murder and taken into police custody.

A Kent Police spokesman said he was detained “without incident” and no one was injured.

His arrest comes after Sussex Police said he was spotted last night in the Hastings and Rother area of East Sussex.Mr Suddards' body was discovered in the hallway of the vicarage of St Mary's Church in Thornbury on Tuesday morning. It is understood he had been repeatedly stabbed.

In a statement released today West Mercia Police conmfimed Mr Farrow was also now being formally linked to the murder of a pensioner in Worcestershire.

A statement on the force's website said:

West Mercia Police have arrested a man in relation to the murder of Betty Yates in Bewdley, Worcestershire, in January.

Mrs Yates, who was 77, was found dead in her home on Wednesday 4 January 2012.

It can also be confirmed that, following close liaison with Avon and Somerset Police, detectives have formally linked the murder of Mrs Yates to the murder of the Reverend John Suddards in South Gloucestershire.

Reverend Suddards, 59, was found dead in his home in Thornbury on Tuesday 14th February 2012. Like Mrs Yates, he had been stabbed to death.

A 47-year-old man was arrested in Kent on behalf of West Mercia Police although he is currently being transferred into the custody of Avon and Somerset Police.

Today, Detective Chief Inspector Neil Jamieson of West Mercia Police said: "We would like to thank Avon and Somerset Police for their help in our investigation. We have been working with them to examine similarities between the deaths of Betty Yates and the Reverend John Suddards."

Anyone with information about either murder should call Avon and Somerset Constabulary on 101 or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111