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Police have arrested a man who is alleged to have sexually assaulted a female British tourist and robbed an elderly couple from the UK on the same day in the south of Tenerife

Police have arrested a man who is alleged to have sexually assaulted a female British tourist and violently robbed an elderly couple from the UK on the same day.

The suspect assaulted the woman in the south of Tenerife after using a martial arts technique known as "lion-killer chokehold", which left her semi-conscious, a spokesman for Spain's National Police said. The young woman had lost her mobile phone and the suspect had offered to help her. "Taking advantage of the fact they were in a secluded and lonely place, the individual attacked her by surprise," the police spokesman added.

On the same day as the alleged sex attack - which sources say took place on March 23 - the suspect allegedly targeted an 89-year-old British man and his 79-year-old wife. Both tourists were hospitalised after the suspect assaulted them "with his fists and his feet" when the woman threw her husband’s watch into the bushes after it came off during a struggle, the police spokesman said.

The suspect has also been linked to another incident on March 20, in which a Swedish tourist was "violently" grabbed "by the neck", with her necklace ripped off, the spokesman said.

The spokesman for Spain's National Police said: "Officers have arrested the suspected author of a crime of sexual assault and two robberies with violence committed in the south of Tenerife."

The first incident took place towards the end of March in Las Veronicas, located in the Playa de las Américas areas. The victim alerted police and provided images taken the same night that showed the suspect, which police said proved key towards progressing the investigation.

Officers were separately investigating two reports of violent robberies in the same municipality of Arona, one of which took place on the same day as the alleged sexual assault and another three days earlier.

The spokesman continued: "In both cases, the areas where the incidents occurred, as well as the physical description of the suspect and the extreme violence employed all matched. In one of the robberies the victims were an elderly couple.

"The mugger tried to steal the man's watch, and a tussle occurred between both, which ended with the watch on the floor. At this moment the man's wife picked it up and threw it into an area of bushes to avoid it being taken. T

"his provoked a violent reaction by the attacker who assaulted both victims with his fists and his feet, managing finally to take a bag full of their shopping that they were carrying."

A witness managed to take a photograph of the man, which was provided to police investigators. The arrest occurred on March 27, but was revealed to the public by police on Tuesday morning.

Sources said on Tuesday that the suspect had incredibly been released on bail after going before a duty judge as opposed to being remanded to prison pending charges and trial.