A wanted robber has been arrested after phoning a regional daily to “tell his side of the story”.

Daniel Lloyd claimed he would “hand himself in when he was ready” after ringing the office of the Worcester News when a police appeal about him was published.

Lloyd, pictured, was wanted after breaching licence conditions imposed by the National Probation Service following his release from prison.

He and his accomplice Kyron Gee had been jailed for a “brutal” attack on a drunk University of Worcester student at the city’s racecourse which left a footprint on the victim’s face, before video-calling his mother so she could see her son lying battered on the ground.

After the 2019 attack, they used the student’s stolen bank cards to carry out a series of frauds, including buying themselves food from McDonald’s and a pregnancy test for one of their girlfriends.

In his call to the News, 24-year-old Lloyd claimed he was in Birmingham and would hand himself in when he was ready after cutting off his ankle tag.

He said: “I am willing to hand myself in when I’m ready. I’m not ready.”

But the robber was subsequently arrested in Woking, Surrey.

Detective inspector Dave Knight, of West Mercia Police’s South Worcestershire Proactive CID, told the News: “This followed work between West Mercia Police, Surrey Police and the Metropolitan Police Service.

“He is in the process of being returned to prison.”