Police in Noord-Holland have arrested a 23-year-old man in connection with a string of stabbing incidents involving women and girls out alone in rural areas.

In total, three women and one girl were stabbed over a period of under three months, leading police to warn women not to go out running or cycling alone in the area where the attacks took place.

The most recent even, at the end of January,  involved a 15-year-old girl who was stabbed while cycling in Barsingerhorn, about 15 kilometres south of Den Helder. The driver of a small car coming from the opposite direction stabbed the girl in the arm with a sharp object, causing her to fall.

She was able to cycle home and alert the police, but the car could not be traced.

Several similar incidents took place in the province in November. In Egmond aan den Hoef an 18-year-old girl out on a run was cut with a sharp object by the driver of a car and in nearby Castricum an 18-year-old girl who was cycling was stabbed in the chest.

A 52-year-old woman runner later received a cut to her arm on the same road. None of the women were seriously hurt.

Police have now picked up a man, who comes from Julianadorp, in connection with the attacks but have not given any more information about him, or about possible motives.

They say witness testimony and other evidence allowed them to link the cases and trace the suspect.