A man arrested in connection with sex attacks on two women was sleeping rough across the road from Roedean.

The 35-year-old suspect was arrested yesterday opposite the 420-pupil school in Brighton where families pay fees of nearly £16,000 a year.

He had pitched a tent over the safety fence and on the cliff edge, just inches from a 100ft drop.

One police source said: "If he had been a sleep-walker he wouldn't have got far before falling."

The man's tent has been taken away for examination and officers and forensic experts spent yesterday combing the area round the makeshift camp site.

They were waiting for safety harnesses to arrive before moving close to the cliff edge to check his sleeping bag and belongings.

The man was still being questioned at John Street police station today in connection with the rape of a 24-year-old woman in Hove on New Year's Day and a sex attack on a 47-year-old woman in Brighton in 1998.

Roedean head teacher Patricia Metham said the school had recently received a warning following the latest attack.

She said: "Some of our girls walk along the cliff path or visit the Marina. We take security very seriously. We have guards and digital locks, and we have all sorts of security procedures. We are very conscious of the dangers."

The man was arrested after a tip-off from a member of the public, following police appeals in the Argus.

Detectives said on Wednesday they wanted to interview Paul Reynolds, 35, to eliminate him from their inquiries.

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