Police searching for a sex offender in Hartlepool found him hiding in the floor of his bathroom, with the hole covered by a rug.
Cleveland Police detectives attended the address yesterday morning as they hunted down a man wanted for breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
During the search of his home address, officers found the suspect in a cubby hole in the bathroom floor, with a bath mat concealing the entrance to his hiding place.
The 24-year-old man was arrested and taken into police custody.