Thomas Jones missing: Two arrested on suspicion of murder after teen goes missing during Freshers' week

Police investigating the disappearance of a student in Freshers' week in Worcester have arrested two men.

Officers are carrying out river searches after Thomas Jones, 18, from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire disappeared in the early hours of Wednesday.

Friends have taken to social media and hundreds of others have joined in efforts to find the missing teen who was last seen making his way home from a night out.

Officers described his absence as "extremely out of character".

Two men are in custody after being arrested on suspicion of murder, police said on Monday.

Prior to the second arrest West Mercia Police shared CCTV images of two men they wanted to speak to recorded at nearby Velvet nightclub. They said the men have now been identified and are both in custody.

The force said it believed Mr Jones had crossed the Sabrina footbridge, near Worcester Racecourse, and then walked to a footpath that runs along the top of flood defences on Hylton Road, just before 3.50am.

They added that there had been an "unprecedented response" to the case, with hundreds of volunteers supporting the investigation.

Supt Damian Pettit said: "We are continuing the investigation with a number of lines of enquiry and will keep the community updated with developments in our continued investigation.

"Thomas' family has been made aware of the updates and they are being supported by specially trained officers."

Divers have been scouring the waters near Sabrina footbridge, and police have now asked the public to stay away from the area as searches continue.

Mr Jones had only moved to Worcester on September 16 and was taking a primary teaching course.

West Bromwich Albion joined efforts to spread the search online after discovering he was a supporter.

His aunt, Jackie Rogers, said a "small army" was carrying out house-to-house enquiries in and around Hylton Road and was determined to "find our boy".

Parents Vicki and Ian Jones told the BBC they were remaining positive as the search goes on. "He's out there somewhere," said Mrs Jones.

The 18-year-old was believed to have been wearing pale-coloured jeans, a navy blue, woollen zip-up Lacoste top and green shoes at the time of his disappearance.