A 57-year-old man has been arrested in Limburg in connection with the rape of an 18-year-old girl in 2002 after a DNA data bank match, police said on Tuesday.

The young woman was raped after her car was involved in a crash in the Limburg village of Horst. Her attacker, whose car was also involved in the crash, offered to drive her home, but instead took her to a wooded area and raped her.

DNA was found at the scene but the rapist was never identified. However, earlier this year scientists found a match between his DNA and that of the rapist. The man’s DNA had been included in a data bank following a conviction for vandalism.

Police have not said any more about the man, ‘in the interests of the investigation’.